Bloodlines
by WCPL
Summary: Trying to keep one step ahead of his mother's past, Logan Canin and his father, John, relocate to Washington where John's half brother lives. Logan thinks this is the stupidest idea ever. Between the creepy old guy obsessed with Logan's age and the smelly weirdos who want to turn him into a fur coat, he may be right. At least his mom's enemies are just run-of-the-mill crazy.
1. Chapter 1

None of the recognizable elements belong to me.

CHAPTER 1

It was kind of ridiculous the lengths my parents went to in order to keep me hidden from the people of Wolf Lake. We never stayed in one place more than a year or two. Although, technically, I guess my mom didn't exactly want to be found either for her own safety. She hadn't exactly left on the best terms: something to do with an ex-husband and not wanting to be a pawn in all the pack politicking just because of the color she was when she flipped. The story goes that she ran away with my dad right after filing for divorce and having the papers served to his house by a third party. The ex hadn't been happy and they'd been on the run ever since. When I'd come along three years later it had just given them further incentive to keep their distance.

Even when Uncle Luke had taken over leadership of the pack, my parents still didn't dare return, though they had relaxed some, living longer in each town we visited. When I started going through the change when I was fifteen, Luke and his wife, my aunt Sophia, came to help me through it. Sophia was the only half-wolf before me to have survived flipping, so understandably my parents wanted her there as a resource.

I'll not go into the details of that horrible seventeen and a half hours. Save to say that it was horrible. Super stupidly painful and horrible. I still get aches in my long bones just thinking about it. And in my short bones, flat bones, irregular bones and sesamoid bones too. Yeah, I learned those terms in anatomy class in high school. Obviously though, I survived. The same can't be said for my mom.

Her stupid-ass ex-husband had followed my uncle and aunt to Truckee where we had been living at the time (mom had liked being able to run in the forests right outside our back door) and had killed her while she tried to protect my dad and me. Uncle Luke had killed him right back but he had been too late to save my mom.

I was a mess for a while after that. I blamed myself; if I hadn't needed extra help with flipping then Tyler never could have followed Luke and Sophia down from Washington. Add to that the fact that I had basically just lay there completely helpless in the beginnings of the change while they fought tooth and claw right in front of me and you got one morose, moody teenager. With the new found ability to become a wild animal. Not a good combination. I had sprinted on all fours out of our cabin and somehow made it the near thirty miles to the Desolation Wilderness where we used to all go hiking as a family before I finally stopped running. In retrospect, I'm pretty sure my uncle had followed me the entire way while Sophia consoled my dad. Luke had, after all, just suddenly seemed to appear once I'd run myself to exhaustion and had collapsed in a sobbing heap back into my human form right in a slushy puddle of melting snow. Naked. Not my most manly moment. Except for the naked in the snow bit. Only real men can pull that off. But hey, my mom had just been murdered in front of me. A good cry was completely understandable.

Luke and I stayed out in the forest for nearly a week before he convinced me to head back home. Or so he thinks. In truth, I just got tired of eating raw bunny rabbits and squirrels. The things I would have done for an In-n-Out (double-double with grilled onions, hold the lettuce, keep the tomato, extra spread on the side...) at that point make me ashamed to even think about now.

Anyway, I went back home. Dad had already put the house on the market and he and Sophia had packed all the essentials. With her and Luke's help we left Truckee within two weeks of Mom's passing and headed to Lone Pine; a town eight-times smaller than Truckee located further south in the Sierra Nevada. Dad had already arranged a new job for himself and enrolled me in the town's only high school.

That was nearly five years ago now. I'd finished out high school in the little frontier town and then left for college up in Palo Alto. Dad had applied for a job in San Francisco to stay close to me (he'd always been a bit overprotective, especially after Mom) and had moved up after the first quarter of my freshman year, just in time for the holidays. The fall quarter of my sophomore year the shit hit the fan again. My cousin Linnea, Luke and Sophia's kid, didn't survive the change. She was their third one not to make it. Luke and Sophia were understandably devastated and somehow this incited a "kill all the halfbreeds" riot. Something about not wanting to dirty the bloodlines any further if it was going to increase the risks of future children not surviving the change. It all sounded a little Death Eater-y to me. I was perfectly happy with my Mudblood heritage, thank you very much.

Dad had gotten the heads-up from Mr. Blackstone that one of the crazies had tracked down our whereabouts. So once again I found myself with my life uprooted and traveling in the passenger seat of a cheery orange rental truck while my dad drove us out of town. I'd already squared it away with the university that I was taking a gap year for "health" reasons and would still be able to enroll in classes the following year if things had settled down without having to reapply. I wasn't hopeful.

My legs were cramping up. The seat had been pushed as far forward as possible to make room for a few last minute odds and ends to fit behind it. My knees were crammed into the dash board where the glove compartment stuck out and it may have been wishful thinking but I was pretty sure I was starting to lose feeling in my left butt cheek. The right one I could feel all too well and it hurt from having been sitting for so long.

"Remind me, why are we going to Washington again?" I asked, rubbing at my calves and trying to increase blood circulation to my feet. "Isn't that the state where the lunatics who might want me dead are living?"

"We've been over this. They'd expect us to go the other way. Remember when you'd always get mad at that Chris kid in Montana when you played hide-and-go-seek-tag? It'll be like that."

Chris had been a sneaky son-of-a-bitch for a third grader. And one of the only people I'd kept in touch with over the years. He'd hide right behind where the seeker was counting so as soon as they left to go find the others he could just waltz right over to the "base" and be safe for the rest of the round. I still wasn't convinced it was a viable real-life strategy. Particularly since it was MY life on the line.

I told him as much. "Dad, I'm almost twenty. I'm old enough to know life isn't like hide-and-seek. This is by far the stupidest move we've ever made."

"Look, Logan. Can you just trust me? I have some extra safety measures in place. You know how I tracked down my biological family a while back? They got back to me and my half-brother invited us to visit to get to know them. We'll be staying on the reservation outside of Forks in..." I snorted at the name of the town. Dad glared at me. "in La Push. It's pretty isolated. He booked the hotel under his name so we won't be traced there. It will be perfectly safe until Luke gets things back in hand."

"Yeah, if I don't go crazy from getting stuck in yet _another_ Podunk town in the middle of BFE and 'La Push' someone off a cliff and get arrested for murder first."

He spared me a glare out of the corner of his eye. "Cute. Real funny. I bet no one has ever come up with that one before. I thought you liked being in places with lots of space for you to run."

"No, Dad. That was Mom. I haven't flipped since I started university. It's just something I can do; not an integral part of who I am. Not like how it was for Mom. And I'd get rid of it in a second if I could in exchange for even a _chance_ at a normal life."

Dad sighed. "I know, Logan. I know. You didn't ask for this. But Mr. Blackstone vouched for the safety of La Push; his second cousin's husband is one of the Quileute elders. From what my brother has told me, it's a pretty tight knit community; we shouldn't have to worry about anyone selling out our location to Luke's old pack."

"That's all well and good, but I don't know how effective bows and arrows will be against a pack of angry werewolves if we _are_ found."

"Don't be racist. You're belittling your own heritage. They use shotguns like everyone else." Dad was joking with me and I felt my lips reluctantly twitch up a bit at the corners. "What do you say we stop in the next town to get a bite to eat and stretch our legs?"

"Oh God, yes!"

Dad pulled off of I-12 (or was it 101 now? At some point the two roads merged. I'd stopped paying attention...) and parked the truck across two parking spaces along a side road due to Dad's old jeep which was hooked up behind the rental. We walked across the street to a little café called "Anne Marie's." A cheery woman with short cropped hair was going over some paperwork at a front table and when she saw my dad and I looking around listlessly at the not-so-inconspicuously religious décor, she smiled warmly and told us to just take a seat anywhere. She came by shortly after we'd seated ourselves by a window and handed us each a menu, introducing herself as the one and only Anne Marie.

She chatted us up for a while, happy to talk to new faces passing through town and we ended up not only ordering what she suggested, but two sandwiches to take with us for later as well. Anne Marie hugged my dad as if they were old friends and reached up to ruffle my hair as we left her restaurant and we promised to stop back by if we ever came through Aberdeen again.

From Aberdeen, it was a short two and a half hour drive to the Rez. Or it would have been if we hadn't blown a tire forty-five minutes after leaving the café. It took two hours for the AAA tow-truck guy to reach us and another hour for him to switch out the flat. In the meantime, I ate my entire to-go sandwich and four bites out of Dad's before he caught me and snatched it out of my mouth and swatted me upside the head. It was worth it. Luckily, though it was overcast, the rain stayed at bay while we waited. The coast line reminded me a bit of Northern California's, greener if anything. More plants I guess from the constant rain.

Tim "The Tow Man" Taylor finished up the paperwork and sent us on our way with a helpful "Watch out for nails!" and thankfully, the rest of our trip was uneventful. Soon enough Dad was driving the rental truck down the pothole littered roads of La Push to the hotel where we'd be staying. From the looks we were getting, new people weren't all that common on the Rez. Especially newcomers who appeared to have their entire lives packed up in a rental truck. I waved at all the nosy busy bodies with a stupid grin on my face when we stopped at a stop sign. I stared back at them until they looked away.

"Stop that." Dad admonished me.

"I'm just being friendly."

"Well don't. You're scaring the locals. You're not twelve. Act your age." He turned left at the stop-sign and I slumped as far into my cramped seat as I could. Which wasn't very far. My knees pressed against my chest and I rested my forehead against them. I was _so_ ready for this trip to be over.

He turned again into a parking lot with a smattering of RVs and a sign that read "Quileute Oceanside Resort." I don't know about the 'resort' part, but it was certainly next to the ocean. Besides the RV hookups, there were several little cabins that they appeared to rent out and a larger central building which my dad pulled up in front of. It was probably where check-in was located.

I stayed with the truck while Dad handled the paperwork inside. He came back out after a few minutes, shuffling some papers and glancing at the little property map he had been given. We followed the yellow highlighted line to the circled cabin and dad brought the truck to a final stop. Dad tossed me the keys to the cabin and while he unhooked the Jeep from the back of the rental truck I made my way in to our temporary home.

It was rustic, both inside and out, with knotted pine walls all throughout the interior. The walls reminded me a bit of our house in Truckee which had been built with the same type of wood. Sometimes when I couldn't sleep, I'd count the knots in the pine planks of the ceiling of my room there (somewhere between 562 and 589, I never counted the same number twice.) There where two bedrooms and a small shared bath as well as a kitchenette and a wood burning stove. A stack of logs lay on the hearth. The decorations were all Native American themed; the place probably catered to curious tourists most of the time who would be disappointed if there weren't the large dream catchers in the windows and beads and feathers hanging from the rawhide-shaded lamp pull cords.

I grabbed my duffel from the truck and chucked it onto the bed in the room I picked. In a spur of the moment childish decision, I threw myself onto the bed after it back first, high jump style, and bounced twice before the mattress settled beneath me. The bed had some pretty damn good springs. Above me, a stylized painting of a wolf in front of a full moon was hanging above the bed frame. Well, isn't that appropriate? Maybe I _would_ flip later and explore the forest surrounding the Rez. University had given me other things to focus on, hence the lack of flipping, but with nothing better to do out here I might as well stretch my legs. All four of them.

"I just called Billy to let him know we made it." My dad said as he came in a moment later with his own bag and dumped it in the other bedroom across the little hall. "You up for meeting new relatives? He invited us over for dinner with him and his son."

"Do I have time for a shower first?" I asked, turning my head and giving my pits a whiff. Nothing scares away new family members quite like the smell of an un-washed quasi-college student whose been stuck in a vehicle all day.

"Please do. Be quick though; I need one too."

"No problem." I clambered off the bed and dug through my bag for my least rumpled shirt and a pair of pants that could pass the sniff test. My choices were few; I really needed to do laundry soon. In fact, I probably should have listened to my dad and washed my clothes before we left the house in the Bay Area. Oh well. Hind sight is 20/20 and all that.

Five minutes later, I was out of the shower and Dad stepped into the bathroom for his turn. It felt good to be clean. The warm water had also helped to soothe my cramped muscles from being stuck in the truck for the past two days. It hadn't been able to do anything about the bruises on my knees from where they had been crammed against the dashboard, however. Those would be gone within a few hours though. Thank God for accelerated healing.

When he got out, Dad looked disapprovingly at my obviously-been-shoved-into-a-bag-unfolded shirt and khaki pants that may or may not have had a minor coffee stain (or something else brown, maybe coke?) on one knee, but when I'd just shrugged unapologetically he rolled his eyes and gestured me into the passenger seat of the Jeep. "Your mother would be horrified that I let you out in public like that."

"We're in a one-stoplight town, not exactly anyplace fancy Dad. I think I'll be okay." He was probably right though. Before she was killed, Mom had had this horrible habit of laying my clothes out for me every day. Even when I was in high school. It was as if she didn't trust me to dress myself. Then again, I was kind of rejecting the null-hypothesis right now with my attire.

Billy's place was just five minutes from the hotel, even though we took the long way 'round after misreading the local map Dad had picked up from the check-in desk. I wasn't sure what I was expecting my uncle (half-uncle?) to be like, but the wheelchair was definitely a surprise. He must have heard the Jeep pull up the gravel driveway because he was wheeling himself out the front door when Dad and I got out of the car.

"Hello! Welcome. You must be John. And Logan." He looked me over with a bit more scrutiny than was comfortable and sounded the slightest bit uneasy when he continued: "You're younger than I pictured. I thought you said your boy was in college? No matter, no matter. Come on in. Jacob should be back any second now. He was out running around with some friends this afternoon." The slight smile on his face told me there was an inside joke somewhere in his statement, but Hell if I could figure it out. I was still slightly confused as to why my apparent youthfulness was cause for concern.

"He is. Logan's a sophomore at Stanford." And boy wasn't Dad proud of that. I'd written a kick-ass admissions essay to get in.

"Taking a bit of a mid-year break?" Billy asked as we followed him into the house.

"Just until we get things squared away with my mom's crazy old cultist friends."

"Yes. John mentioned that there was a bit trouble from that direction. You're both welcome to stay in La Push while things work themselves out. It's a quiet, safe community here. For the most part. Can I get either of you anything to drink?"

Dad and Billy got to talking over a couple of beers while I listened in, nursing a Dr. Pepper, and answering any questions Billy threw my way. Mostly about school and inconsequential things like that. He offered condolences on the passing of my mother and shared that he'd lost his wife some time back too. He seemed like a pretty cool guy and he and Dad got on like they were old friends catching up instead of half-brothers meeting for the first time.

I was just starting to let my mind wander (they'd started discussing fishing reels...) when the front door slammed open and a shirtless Fezzik skidded into the room. "Dad, hey... And we have company. Uh... Right. I forgot they were coming. Be right back." And he disappeared up the stairs in two bounds.

"That's Jacob." Billy introduced as we heard a door slam from up above.

I couldn't help it. "Who put the hGH in the water?" I blurted. Seriously, I wasn't short. Six foot one was quite respectable in most circles. But damn! Was Billy secretly a giant when he stood up from the wheelchair? Or maybe the kid got it from his mom's side.

"It's a recessive gene that crops up every now and again amongst the local boys. How old did you say you were again?"

What was with his obsession with my age? "Dad says I'm twelve."

"He'll be twenty in a few weeks. He only acts like he's twelve."

"You should be in the clear then. It normally surfaces around sixteen if it's going to manifest. Never in anyone older than eighteen."

"You mean there was a chance I could have become like Gigantor?"

My dad rested his head in his hands. "I am _so_ sorry about his behavior. I swear I didn't raise him to be like this."

Billy just laughed. "Don't bother yourself over it. Jacob can be quite the handful too. Boys will be boys."

"I can hear you talking about me!" Jacob called out as he came back down the stairs. Fully clothed this time. Not that I could really judge him. The number of times I'd ended up naked (not just shirtless) somewhere in the forest was quite high; it had taken me a while to learn to hide my clothing before flipping and more times than I can count some 'Good Samaritan' had picked them up and thrown them away thinking that they were trash left behind by hippie-nudists. Or maybe they just kept them and right this very second some kid was running around in my old boxers. Hell, if they needed them that bad they could keep them.

My cousin (half-cousin? Seriously, could you have half-uncles and cousins? I'd have to look that up later) collapsed into an armchair to my right and I swear the poor thing almost gave out under him. "Sorry I'm late. I completely forgot. Sam had us out going through formations... for JROTC. Yeah. That." He didn't sound too convincing and looked like he wanted to bash his head into a wall. Poor guy. His dad was sure to figure out that he was lying if even I could tell.

"Sounds like you boys were having fun." Or Billy could be completely oblivious. Dad shared a look with me and I knew he'd caught it too.

"Yep, _super_ fun. In fact, it was _so_ fun that I'd almost forgotten about the fact that you'd forbidden me from talking to Bella. Oh wait. No it wasn't." Ah. There was the teenaged moodiness I couldn't wait to leave behind me in a few weeks when I turned twenty. Sounds like somebody was having girl problems.

"You know my reasons and we'll discuss this later. See," he turned to my dad, "mine can misbehave too. Now that we're all here, why don't we head to the table? Sue brought over some fried fish."

"Sue Clearwater?" Dad asked

"Yes. You know her?"

"She related to an old friend of mine: Sherman Blackstone. He's the one who finally convinced me to visit."

"She's mentioned him. I'm glad he talked you into coming. It's the fried fish, however, that will ensure you never leave."

"I'll take that bet. It smells delicious."

We all helped set the table (Mr. Grumpy-pants included) while Billy wheeled the side dishes and the pièce-de-résistance (a towering plate filled with beautiful, steaming, golden, flaky fish) to the dining room. The woman had certainly outdone herself; there was no way four people could eat all that. Three people and a werewolf, however, may just have a shot at it. Add in the fact that one of those people is the size of André the Giant and its game on.

Dad and Billy talked through the meal while Jacob and I sat quietly. The overgrown kid matched me fish-for-fish and from the way he was smirking at me I figured he thought I must be reaching my limit. Fat chance. We both reached for more and continued our silent contest. Eventually Billy and Dad started to take notice and Billy was getting that strange gleam in his eye again; I swear he was about to ask me to produce my birth certificate to verify my age. Dad gave me a meaningful look and I gracelessly bowed out. I guess it would be stupid to raise suspicious vibes and start whispers of the supernatural from people just because I wanted to out-eat my newfound cousin. Because that's the first thing _everyone_ thinks when they see a young man eat too much: they can't be human. Sometimes (all-the-times) Dad was too protective. Jacob triumphantly ate two more of the fish and a third heaping spoonful of slaw before he too laid his fork to rest.

"So, are both of your legs hollow? Or just the one?" I asked him conspiratorially while we were busing the table as our dads moved back to the living room with fresh beers.

"I have a fast metabolism. How about you? Your stomach must be about to explode; you almost kept up with me."

"Nah, I'm good. I must have the same fast metabolism you do. Genetics, I guess."

"I highly doubt it." His tone was only 110% condescending.

"Riiiight then. No more talk of being related I guess. I didn't mean to offend you." Sheesh. Someone was touchy.

"Sorry." He was quick to apologize. "I didn't mean for it to come out like that. It's cool that we're family. I've just had a _seriously_ messed up week and half."

"Something to do with that Bella chick?" Oh God, I'd just initiated a touchy-feely conversation. About girls. Kill me now.

"Kind of. She's part of it. But there's other stuff going on too that I can't talk about. Especially to her, which is what's frustrating me the most. She think's I've abandoned her. But really, that's not it at all. See, she's not part of the tribe, so there's like, _things_ I can't tell her, even though I want to. And Dad thinks I'll tell her anyway, despite the elder's orders not to, which is why he's forbid me from talking to her at all. And she _needs_ me! I'm the only thing keeping her together right now. She had this horrible break up, and Doucheward left her in the middle of the forest, and I've just recently gotten her to smile again. All I want is for her to be happy. And if she thinks I abandoned her like _he_ did, then she'll never forgive me."

Poor kid was in deep. And this girl sounded like a piece of work. Good old teen angst. I nodded sagely. "Don't sweat it, dude." Gah! Who says 'dude' anymore? Me, apparently. That's who. "It will all work out eventually. Just give it some time. Be smart. Think your way through this. You say you can't tell her what the elders don't want you to. Can you hint at it? Like, sneak her a note or something in code so she can figure it out on her own?" And there I went, suggesting delinquency and rebellion. I was the best cousin ever.

"You know? That just might work. Thanks."

"Anytime. That's what family is for, right?"

"So I've been told. Want to check out the bikes I've been working on with her? It looks like our dads have forgotten we exist."

"Sure. Lead the way."

I'd assumed he meant mountain bikes, but apparently my cousin was a mechanics genius and had actually fixed up a pair of motorcycles. I couldn't even change the oil on a car. I 'uh huh-ed' and nodded at the appropriate times while Jacob, who apparently preferred to be called Jake, listed off all the repairs he'd done and parts he'd replaced. He also showed me the VW Rabbit that, if I understood him correctly, he'd built from the ground up with his own two hands with metal he'd smelted himself from ore he'd personally mined and a flat-head screwdriver made from one of his baby-teeth as his only tool. I was duly impressed.

It was full dark when Dad and I headed out. I was glad that he and his brother hit it off so well, but I was beyond ready to hit the sack. Billy and Jake said goodbye from the glow of their front door and I waved back at them as Dad backed the Jeep out onto the road.

I took a moment when we got back to the rental cabin to admire the night sky after my dad had gone on in. The clouds from earlier had cleared and stars were twinkling as far as I could see in all directions. This was one thing that small towns had over Palo Alto and San Francisco; less light pollution. I breathed the crisp night air in deeply and closed my eyes. "Yeah." I said to myself. "I'm long overdue for a run." Another time, though. It had been a long day and right now what I needed more than anything was sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

For a rustic resort in the middle of nowhere, they sure had amazing beds. I hadn't slept this well in ages. Particularly not in the dorms at Stanford. I'm pretty sure _their_ mattresses were hand-me-downs from San Quentin. That would explain the shiv I'd found stuffed into a tear in mine from freshman year. At least, I think it was a shiv. It could have been a poor attempt at a home-made dildo. Personally, I'd prefer it to have been a shiv. While the Lord knows what happened on dorm mattresses, I for one would prefer to remain blissfully ignorant.

Dad was busy in the little kitchenette fixing a bagel for breakfast dressed in business casual. "Did I miss something?" I asked, sliding into one of the wooden chairs around the breakfast table.

"Billy's best friend is sheriff over in Forks. He called this morning to say he'd gotten me an interview with the police department. Billy even explained our situation with the 'cultists' and Chief Swan is willing to use a pseudonym for the paperwork to protect our location if he hires me on."

"Well that's convenient." My philosophy was never to complain when deus ex machina worked in our favor.

"I'll be back later this afternoon. I'm taking the jeep, so if you need to drive anywhere you'll have to take the truck."

"No problem. I hadn't planned on going too far today. I've had enough driving for a while. Good luck."

"Thanks. Stay out of trouble."

I shot him the bird behind his back as he walked out the door with his bagel in hand.

I'm not ashamed to say that I went back to bed after I ate breakfast. Few things were better than a post-breakfast nap. When I got up the second time, I pulled out my laptop and walked around the property until I could get an internet signal. I probably looked a little silly sitting in the dirt outside the main office, but beggars couldn't be choosers. As it was, the little service indicator kept flickering between one and two bars depending on the direction of the wind.

It took longer than it should have, but eventually I was able to get a map of the greater area to load. If I was going to go for a run later, I wanted to have at least a general idea of the layout of the forest. Figure out where the trails and campgrounds were so I could steer clear of them. Since there were no wild grey wolf populations in the immediate area, I would definitely draw attention if I were spotted. Attention that my dad and I didn't need.

A trail ran all the way up and down the coast, so my best bet was to head further inland. Of course, there was always the risk of running into pot growers in the more isolated areas. Civilians with cameras or drug lords with rifles? It was a bit of a catch-22.

In the end, I figured it would be best to head north of the Rez and south of the river. There wasn't any convenient place to cross it without a car and it was too wide to easily swim. That settled, I folded up my computer and headed back into the cabin. I pulled my sweatpants from my duffel and changed into them. I opted to forgo a shirt since I'd be taking it off anyway. Not to mention it appeared to be culturally acceptable for the men to run around topless here. First Jake last night and then this morning I'd seen two more locals, other carriers of that recessive gene Billy had mentioned judging by the size of them, strolling through town in gym shorts and nothing else. Not even shoes. I left a note for Dad in case he got back before I did and headed back out the door, locking it behind me.

It was quite brisk without a shirt, but my body temperature was higher than the average human's so as soon as I started moving I'd be fine. I took off at a jog, ignoring the curious glances of the people on the street. I felt myself relax as the trees got denser and taller the further I got from the town center. I hadn't realized how tense I'd been. Maybe Dad had been right, keeping us in in places with easy access to open spaces for unimpeded running. Even without having flipped yet, I felt freer than I had in a long time being surrounded by the forest.

I ran on two feet for a couple of miles, weaving my way further into the temperate rainforest. I wanted to be a decent ways away from civilization (if you could call La Push that) before stripping to my birthday suit and trading two legs for four. When I decided I'd gone far enough, I found an empty crevice in an old maple and shoved my clothes inside. With nothing left to stop me, I flipped for the first time in over a year.

It was just like slipping on your favorite winter sweater. One that you'd owned for so long that the fabric was worn to softness and had stretched to fit just right. And warm. The layer of fur definitely held the coastal wind at bay better than my human skin. I'd forgotten how good being a wolf felt. With a luxurious stretch that cracked the bones along my spine, I bounded off into the woods at full speed. It wasn't dignified, but I'm pretty sure my tongue was lolling out of the side of my mouth in pure joy. After another mile or so I slowed to a trot. The paws of my feet were tender from the abuse I'd just put them through running over all the twigs and rocks as I'd lost some of the callusing in the time since I'd last flipped. It wasn't unbearable though, so I pushed the discomfort to the back of my mind.

The smells of the forest were much more distinct when filtered through my canine nose. And the added depth to my scenting abilities more than made up for the changes in vision. Not that wolf-vision was _bad_ per se, but it was definitely different from human sight. It wasn't black and white, like most people assumed when they heard the words 'color-blind,' but the hues changed to favor more yellows and blues. It was the same thing for domestic dogs; they see colors, just not the same colors as humans. Add to that the fact that my eye line was about half as high as what it was when I was on two legs and you get quite the shift in world perspective.

I didn't loiter in the forest too long. Once again the sky was threatening rain and I didn't want to get stuck out in the storm. As I started to retrace my scent trail to the maple tree where I left my clothes, I caught an unfamiliar scent on the wind. It was an older scent, likely left by something passing through a day or so ago. At it smelled horrible. Like someone had eaten all the cotton candy at the state fair and then vomited. Except there were no pink or blue puddles of regurgitated sugar that I could see. I'd never understood the phrase 'sickly sweet' before. In my opinion, there had been no such thing- the more sugar the better. But this new aroma definitely fit the description and made my nose burn, even though it wasn't fresh. Whatever it was, I quickly left it behind me. I had no desire to figure out what had made that God awful stench.

The first drops of rain were just starting to fall when I jogged back in to town. I was moving much slower than on the way out and was far more out of breath than I would have liked. I'd have to work on that. I was stopped at a street corner to catch my breath... I mean stretch... when an old F-150 squeaked to a stop right beside me.

"Get in." The old native driving the vehicle leaned over the passenger seat and opened the door from the inside.

"Uh, gee mister. Thanks for the offer, but my Dad, who's a cop, by the by, is expecting me back any second now. I'd sure hate to worry him and his shotgun. That he totally keeps with him at all times. Loaded. With buckshot. So I'll just be going now." I started to back away from the creeper's truck, slowly, while looking around me for witnesses. I could see the headlines from the newspaper 'Idiot College Student Gets in Truck with Stranger; Found Days Later Chopped to Pieces in the Pacific.' Not that I couldn't totally take this guy; he looked older than dirt. But you never know when somebody has chloroform stashed in the glove compartment. Plus, I'd feel way guilty beating on an old guy just to save my own skin.

"It wasn't a suggestion, Boy. The name's Quil, but you can call me Mr. Ateara. And you're the new Black kid."

Well that was slightly derogatory. You have to love racist old people and their lack of verbal filters. "Uh, actually, I'm mostly Caucasian. No African ancestry at all that I know of. But I _am_ a quarter Native American." Perhaps if I played the 'I'm one of you!' card he'd think twice about young adult-napping me. "Oh!" and suddenly I felt stupid. "You mean like Uncle Billy and Jake. That kind of Black." Note to self: learn to think before speaking.

"Just get in. You're getting soaked in that rain." And so I was. Sometime in the last few moments it had really started coming down. "I was friends with your grandfather."

I hesitated, but then decided 'What the Hell?' and sat my soggy self in the passenger seat. And then made sure to surreptitiously pull a few of my hairs out and toss them on the floor of the car. DNA evidence, just in case.

"I'm Logan. Kanin. Dad was adopted and just found out about the Blacks a few years back. So we have a different last name. Hence the Black confusion."

"William never knew the kid survived. He thought the girl had an abortion. He'd never have let your daddy go if he'd known." Why was he telling me this?

"I'll let my dad know. It all turned out ok. Dad loved his adoptive parents. No hard feelings, ya know?"

He hmmd, put the truck in gear, made a U-turn and started driving towards the Oceanside Resort. I hoped. "Billy says you have quite the appetite."

"Yes, sir. I've always been able to put my weight away in food. Dad says that I might as well have been eating his paycheck with all the money he spends on groceries."

He hmmd again. "You done any growing lately? All that food's got to be going somewhere."

"Nothing worth buying new clothes over."

He was quiet for a moment, then: "Have you been sick at all recently? Sometimes that can increase appetite."

"Nothing major since I was around sixteen, sir."

He jumped on my answer. "What happened then?"

"Nothing too special. I was bedridden for a day with the flu. And then my mom was killed in front of me by crazy cultists that she used to be friends with." I added the last bit hoping it would shake him up and stop the Spanish Inquisition. Nothing like bringing up your dead mom to kill a conversation. I was starting to regret getting in the truck.

"Hmmm." Seriously? "How old did you say you were again?"

"I didn't. But hey, funny story: I was just on my way to get my birthdate tattooed onto my forehead so people would stop asking me that."

He ignored my rudeness as he pulled into the parking lot of the resort. "It's pretty cold out to be running around half dressed. You're not cold?" And the next thing I knew he had reached over and grabbed my upper arm.

Oh. Holy. Shit. I was being molested by a grandpa. I knew I shouldn't have gotten in the truck. I broke his hold and practically leapt out of the still moving vehicle. "Nopenotcold!Bye!Thanksfortheride!" It came out in a rushed squeak. A manly squeak, to be sure, but a squeak nonetheless.

"There's a bonfire this Saturday." He called out after me. "You and your dad should come. Learn about your heritage." And then thankfully he drove away.

I practically sprinted to our cabin. I fumbled the keys and dropped them twice before I could get the door open. Once I had, I slammed it shut behind me and leaned against it after locking the deadbolt.

Dad looked up at me from the couch where he was watching TV.

"You all right there, Logan?"

"No."

"Did someone see you while you were running? Do we need to leave town?" He looked to me for further clarification.

"No, no. That's not it. I was almost raped by a creepy old man." By the look of incredulity on his face he didn't believe me. "Seriously; he said he knew your dad then he offered me a ride and felt up my arm. I should have paid more attention to your stranger-danger lectures as a kid."

"Only you, Logan. Only you. I'm sure you're blowing it out of proportion. Aren't you curious about how my interview went?"

"Yeah, of course. Sorry, Dad. How'd it go?" Of _course_ his news was more important than my narrow escape with my virtue intact.

"I got the job."

"That's awesome, congratulations."

"And I got you one too."

"Wow Dad, you shouldn't have." No, really, he shouldn't have.

"Come on. It'll be good for you. You're always complaining about money. It'll only be part time. Plus, this will give you something to do during the day. Besides getting hit on by old men. We both start in the morning. I'll drive you and then leave you the Jeep. My new job comes with access to a cruiser so you can keep the Jeep for the time being."

At least something good was going to come from this. "What exactly did you sign me up for?"

"Morning shift at the outdoors store in Forks. It's a little mom-and-pop place. They mostly hire the local high school kids but the owner needs someone to cover during the day when the kids are in class. Chief Swan's daughter works there after school some days. You'll mainly be organizing the merchandise and manning the register if anyone wanders in."

It could be worse. There couldn't be too many people in such a small town that needed hiking boots and wool socks. I'd most likely get to just bum around the store until the high schoolers came to take over. Easy money. And it would get me away from that creepy old porcupine guy. "How early will I need to get up?" I asked resignedly, going over to the fridge and pulling out a bottle of water that Dad had stocked it with.

"We'll be leaving at seven. Your shift doesn't start until 8:30, so you'll have a bit of free time."

"Great. And here I thought taking time off from classes meant I'd at least be able to sleep in."

"Suck it up."

Morning came far too quickly for my liking. It was still dark out when Dad tossed a freshly washed set of clothes at my head and flipped on the lights.

"Get dressed. We're leaving in ten minutes. I suggest you grab something to eat."

I groaned in response. Like a zombie, I shuffled around my room pulling on my clothes and shoes. The entire bag of bagels from the kitchenette found its way into the car with me and I munched on them mindlessly as Dad drove towards Forks. The sun was bright for once, with no clouds in the sky, and was glaring though the windshield as we headed east.

Dad pointed out my new place of employment when we passed by it on the way to the police station. Like everything else in the town, Newton's Olympic Outfitters wasn't that impressive but at least it looked well cared for from the outside with clean windows and nicely organized displays. It was dark inside, but still early and I'd probably have time for a quick nap in the Jeep before I had to meet my boss. When we pulled in to the police station Dad made me get out of the car so he could introduce me to Chief Swan.

He seemed chill enough, if a little flustered this morning. Not what I was expecting. The moustache was an interesting touch. I hadn't seen one of those grown non-ironically in ages. Unless you counted that Jack guy I'd met once in San Francisco. But he had literally won both national and international awards for his impressive facial hair so any comments made against it were summarily written down and then burned as sacrifices to the Beard Gods while drinking peach lambic. Which is delicious. And only marginally alcoholic. Although that argument didn't sit well with my dad and I'd been given an hour long lecture on alcohol poisoning and the other various dangers of underage drinking when he'd found out.

But I digress. Chief Swan shook my hand and made with the pleasantries of meeting a new employee's offspring, but I could tell his mind was elsewhere. Apparently some backpackers had gone missing and there was talk of bears having been sighted in the woods outside of Forks where their wilderness permits indicated they were heading. I thought it sounded more like a job for park rangers to handle, but it seemed as though my dad's first day on the job would be coming through the woods with a team of officers trying to find sign of the missing people or the bear.

Dad tossed me the keys to the Jeep before heading into the office for a more complete debriefing of his day ahead. I snatched them out of the air and backtracked to the sporting goods store. I had about twenty minutes to wait after I arrived and I spent them with my head resting against the window and my eyes closed tightly against the morning sun. I was just about to doze off when I heard a car pull up and park next to the Jeep. I sat up and looked out the window to see an attractive older woman with blonde hair step out of a dually Silverado in stilettos. I was half convinced I had actually fallen asleep and this was some sort of weird Mrs. Robinson dream when the woman sauntered over to the Jeep. There is a more than decent chance that my mouth was hanging open when she tapped on the window and gestured for me to get out with a well-manicured finger. This was _not_ the type of woman who worked at a sporting goods store.

I ambled out of my car and straightened my shirt while she introduced herself.

"Well good morning there, Sunshine. I'm Karen Newton, but you can just call me Karen. My, my. You look just like your daddy. I'd have known you anywhere."

"Yes, ma'am, I get that a lot." I followed her to the store front where the 'click-click' of her heels stopped while she unlocked the door.

"Now, now, I told you to call me Karen; ma'am makes me feel old." She ushered me inside and flipped on the lights. "March isn't exactly the busiest time of year for us; we get more tourists in the summer headed out to the national parks. So we only have one or two people working the floor this time of year. But Merle, our old day shift floor assistant just turned 92 last week and finally decided to retire. Of course, he retired at 85 and 90 as well and ended up coming back a few months later each time because he got bored, but I think he might just mean it this go-around. You should have it pretty easy."

She walked me around the store, letting me familiarize myself with the layout, all the while talking about the expectations she had for me. None of it sounded too bad and she seemed like she'd be pretty cool to work with. For a lady in heels, she certainly knew her stuff. After the tour, she sat me down in the back to watch some mandatory training videos on the computer while she went about getting everything in order up front; a task that in the future would be mine. At least on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays when I'd be working.

The training videos ended up being the most exciting part of my work day. Karen was right when she said there was very little business in the winter months. I did help a pair of tourists pick out some snow shoes and one local man came in needing new boots but other than that it was a pretty slow morning. The only other customer that came in needed ammunition for her rifle and since I wasn't yet trained to help in that department Karen had to take care of her.

My shift ended at 3:00 pm but I ended up staying a little after so Karen could introduce me to her son who was working the afternoon shift. Mike eyed me curiously as he shook my hand, probably wondering what the hell someone my age was doing moving to a place like Forks or La Push when I was old enough to be off in college or at least out from under my parent's roof. I couldn't exactly blame him.

I left shortly after and headed back to what counted as 'home' these days. The drive was uneventful for the most part. The sun was marvelously still bright in the for once cloudless sky making everything greener. I was a few miles out of La Push, paying more attention to the shadows between the trees on the side of the road and for once, my propensity for not keeping my eyes on the road worked in my favor. Had I not been looking off to the side, I most definitely would not have had the time to slam on the brakes so as not to run over the girl that came barreling out of the woods at a dead run right from where I happened to have been looking.

The screeching of the tires as I jolted to a stop seemed to snap her out of whatever reverie she had been in that caused her to dash into the road.

"Watch where you're going, you mother licking son of a four legged whore!" And then she continued ranting at me in another language which I could only assume was Quileute. She wasn't dressed for a jog through the woods- blue jeans and what may once have been a nice sweater but was now torn from having snagged on the manzanita as she ran. The fact that she was barefoot was also telling.

I got out of the car and approached her slowly as she started to literally shake with anger. "Hey there. Just calm down. I'm sorry. I'm just glad I was able to stop in time." I used my soft 'talking to a potential 5150' voice, hoping it would help. "Are you okay?"

She paused in her rant and looked down at herself, taking in her myriads of scratches and bleeding feet. "No." she admitted after taking in a deep breath. "I'm not. Not that it's any of your fucking business."

"Uh, anything I can do to help? Since I almost ran you over and all?" It had totally been her fault, but something told me that telling her that wouldn't be good for my health.

She contemplated my offer for a moment, cocking her head to one side and letting her long black hair fall to one side. She really was quite pretty when she wasn't screaming at me in foreign languages. "I guess I could use a ride back to the Rez. That is where you were headed, yeah?"

"Yeah. Hop on in." I opened the passenger door for her and she eyed me like that was the strangest thing anyone had ever done as I shut it behind her.

"I can open and close doors myself, you know."

"I never doubted it. I'm Logan, by the way." I hoisted myself back into the driver seat and started up the engine.

"Leah." She was quiet for a minute or so, but as we drew closer to the town, I could hear her heart rate pick up and she started to appear agitated once again and was nearly hyperventilating. I slowed down and pulled over to the side of the road. "Why are you stopping?" she demanded.

"We don't have to go back to La Push if you don't want. Whatever had you running through the woods like that, I don't think you're ready to face just yet."

"And who are you to tell me what I am or am not ready to face? You don't know anything! You're just some idiot who nearly runs girls over as a ruse to get them into their car. Creep!" She was starting to shake again.

"Woah, hey now, take it easy. I didn't mean anything by it. Just take a deep breath. And might I remind you that you were the one that asked for a ride? I don't go around offering rides to random women on the side of the road."

"You're right. I'm sorry." The apology looked like it pained her. "I've just been so angry lately. I can't seem to help it. Every little thing sets me off. And I don't know why; it's not even that time of the month. Ugh! It just isn't fair. Damn him."

"Look, I've been there. Not the 'that time of the month' there, but the there where I was angry at the world for things that were outside of my control and nothing seemed to be going in my favor. I ran away for a week and lived in the woods. My uncle had to come find me."

"You? Seriously? You don't look like you'd last five minutes in the woods, let alone a week." Her obvious disbelief of my outdoorsy manliness stung at my pride. The fact that I hadn't been a man at the time notwithstanding. I could totally start a fire if I had to. I think. I mean, it couldn't be that hard right? Man has been making fire for millennia. I'm a man. Ergo; fire making is in my blood. That's totally how it works.

"True story. I was fifteen and my mom had just died. It was easier being away from everything."

Her tone turned softer at my admission. "Oh. I'm sorry. How did she die? I mean, never mind. Sorry, that's a horrible thing to ask."

"Don't worry about it. It happened a while ago. I've had plenty of time to make my peace with it. She was murdered." I can't believe I'd brought that up with a stranger, and not even as a 'distract the crazy guy' tactic like I'd tried with the old man. The girl probably thought I was fishing for pity points now.

"Shit; that's horrible. I can't even imagine what I'd do without my mom and dad." She sighed, and sensing my discomfort with the subject, thankfully switched gears. "Do you think you could take me to the beach south of here instead? I need some more time to set my head straight. I don't want to face anyone in town yet."

"Yeah, sure. Just tell me the way."

I offered to stay with her at the beach, or at least loiter in my car until she was ready for a ride home, but she said she'd call a friend when she wanted to go back. I felt a little bad leaving her there, but she insisted and I didn't want to live up to her 'creep' comment from earlier. I did find some gauze and bandages in the first aid kit tucked under the back seats that I used to wrap up the cuts on her bare feet before leaving. She'd blushed and tried not to laugh as I handled each ticklish foot. It was kind of cute. As I drove away, I could just make out her silhouette sitting on a rock out in the water with her feet dangling in the ocean. The sound of the waves slapping against the shore seemed to help her regulate her breathing and she was much calmer than when I'd first come across her.

I have the strangest luck, I swear. Who else would nearly run over some chick that came crashing out of the woods on the road to nowhere? Still, I was glad I'd been there to help. She obviously was going through a rough time. With La Push as small as it was, I was sure to run into her again and I only hoped that whatever it was that was bothering her resolved itself eventually. Someday, I'd learn not to jinx things.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Dad was a little spooked when he got home from work that evening in the old p72 Crown Vic. As it turned out, interviews of hikers suggested that it was a pack of wolves, and not a bear, that had been terrorizing the forest. I assured him that while I had been out running the other day I had not caught any scent of the Wolf Lake pack (Luke had sent me items from most of the members of his pack a little over a year ago so I could familiarize myself with their smell and be able to detect if they ever came sniffing around where I was living.) Still, he was nervous and made me promise to keep to the coastal forest when I went out and not venture further inland where the search for the animals was centered.

To make my life even more awesome, Billy had invited us to the same bonfire that COG (Creepy Old Guy) had mentioned so now there was no getting out of it. I hoped safety in numbers would work to my favor. Luckily, I had three days to mentally prepare myself.

I hung around the resort on Thursday, checking out the local beaches and otherwise bumming around town. Friday I had work again. There were a few more people this close to the weekend, but it still couldn't be classified as 'busy.' Merle came by, and I had the chance to meet my predecessor. He was a hoot. Even though he wasn't technically employed, he spent the whole day shuffling along after me without the aid of a cane or walker, offering pointers and training me to fill his shoes. Karen just smiled warmly at him and didn't bat a charcoaled eye at the kind old man when he made use of the 'employees only' break room in the back and helped himself to some hot water for a steaming cup of herbal tea that he had stashed away in one of the cabinets, along with a personalized mug stained from years of use. I'd take good ol' Merle over COG any day. I only hoped that when I was 92 I was as mobile and mentally awesome as he was.

Saturday was the big day. I decided to run off my nervous energy early that morning, but had to do so in human form. Due to the recent wolf sightings, all the locals of La Push and Forks were on high alert so it wasn't exactly safe. Added to that, Dad and the other officers were going out again this afternoon to try and hunt the beasts down, so it really would have been a bad idea to chance flipping.

I made a wide loop around the entirety of La Push and somehow ended up at the Black house. Jake was out front, topless once again. He waved at me and jogged out to intercept my path.

"Hey! Logan!" He seemed much cheerier than the last time I'd seen him.

"Jake." I greeted as I slowed to a stop. "How's it going?"

"Great. I talked to her yesterday. I think we're going to be ok."

"That's awesome, man. I'm, uh, really happy for you." Sheesh. It was like something straight out of a sappy novel for teenage girls.

"So you're coming to the bonfire tonight, right? We have them every so often to get everyone together." He continued to fill me in on what to expect for the evening; a lot of food, a lot of people, and the tribal elders sharing the old legends. I think he would have talked more, but as we stood there in the street, an old truck came flying up the road. "Bella?" I only heard him thanks to my enhanced hearing. I guess whatever he'd said to her yesterday had gotten through.

A brunette haired girl practically ran from the truck once it had stopped. "Jake!"

"I'll let you guys hash things out." I said, taking a step back. I'd had enough feels for the day. "See you tonight."

Jake waved as I continued on my run. The girl looked after me with curious eyes as if trying to figure something out about me. Weird. She was passably attractive, I guessed, for a kid, but there had to be something about her I wasn't seeing in those few seconds that drew Jake in. Maybe it was because she was an older woman? Or because she wasn't Native American, upping the rebelling against one's elders factor? At the end of the day, I didn't really care.

Dad got back in the early evening just as the sun was starting to set out over the water. They hadn't seen any wolves while out hunting today, though Dad had seen some interesting tracks and had found an unusual animal graveyard with several carcasses gathered in one area. His best guess was poachers.

We arrived at the bonfire right on time. The flames were just starting to lick up the logs of the central fire. Long folding tables had been dragged out and set with all sorts of food pot-luck style. Dad and I were assured that it was alright that we hadn't brought anything to share since it was our first time and hadn't known. Everyone grabbed paper plates and shuffled around the heavily laden tables. I had to use both hands to balance my plate by the time I had loaded it with a sample of everything that looked good. I'd probably still need to go back for seconds with my metabolism. After almost everyone had served themselves, a group of giants, Jake included, came out of the trees and descended on the food that was left. Perhaps I wouldn't be getting seconds after all. Apparently that recessive gene Jake and the others expressed caused them all to be bottomless pits.

From across the fire, I saw the girl from the other day. Even from this distance I could tell she was fuming. She wouldn't stop glaring at the clique of too-tall boys. One of them hesitated under her stare and started over towards her as if to talk. Instead, she jumped up with her plate and stomped away from him, plopping down on the log right next to me.

"This seat taken?" It kind of had been; I was saving it for my dad, but when he saw Leah next to me, he winked at me and found another spot over by Billy.

"I was saving it for you." I said instead. "Friend of yours?" I asked, nodding towards the now scowling behemoth.

"My ex. He dumped me for my cousin."

"Ouch. Bastard."

"Tell me about it. I've been avoiding him for months. I wouldn't even have come tonight, but Mom insisted. Sorry for being a complete head case the other day; and thanks for giving me a ride." She absent mindedly stirred the foods on her plate together, creating an unappetizing mess in the middle of her plate.

"Anytime. Just promise you'll give me a heads up next time so I can have one foot on the brake pedal."

She laughed wryly. "Will do."

COG stood in front of the fire and cleared his throat. The hum of conversations halted and all eyes focused on him. When he started to speak, his voice carried exceptionally well and he spoke with the cadence of a practiced storyteller.

I'm not sure what I was expecting, but stories about what sounded like vampires and shapeshifting wolves were definitely not in the top ten. I could feel COG's eyes staring right at me as he divulged the tribal legends and I had to concentrate not to show just how close to my own secret these myths came. Beside me, Leah looked bored, probably because she'd heard the tales more times than she could count.

Dad was suspiciously eyeing COG, trying to figure out if the crazy old man knew more than he was letting on. This bonfire just went from a cool evening of free food and storytelling to completely nerve wracking. This could not get any more awkward.

"What a load of superstitious bull." Leah whispered at one point when COG was going on about how the 'protectors' would come back when they were most needed.

"You don't believe your own tribe's legends? Isn't that, like, sacrilegious or something?" I asked in a whisper.

"It's your tribe too, you know. Are you saying you _do_ believe?"

"Not in all the details, certainly. I mean, shapeshifting is a bit farfetched, but most myths are based in truth."

"So a group of traveling cannibals strolled through town and our ancestors trained the local wildlife to fight them off?" She suggested.

"Eh. Works for me." Her explanation was much more plausible than the unaltered legend. Even with my knowledge that werewolves existed.

When COG finished his tale, there was a polite smattering of applause and the murmur of individual conversations picked back up around the fire. Dad wheeled Billy over to where Leah and I were sitting and then sat on my other side where one of the other attendees had just vacated.

"Did you enjoy the bonfire?" Billy asked.

"Yeah." I allowed. And it was true. Despite the strange vibes I'd been getting from COG and the close-to-home content of his tale, I had had fun.

"Some of the boys have a bit of an epiphany after hearing the legends; new realizations about themselves. It's something of a coming of age thing. You'll let me know if something happens, won't you? As one of the elders, I'll be able to help you with anything that comes along. If it does."

"Uh, yeah. Sure. I'll keep you posted." What was with all the adults here being so strangely concerned with my personal life?

"Good, good. I'm glad you both could make it. I hate to just leave you here, but we're having a closed council meeting later this evening and I have to be there."

"Not a problem. Thanks for inviting us." Dad said. Bill called Jake over and the two of them headed back towards the parking lot followed by a few other older men (including COG) and all of the garbage disposals that had consumed all the food left on the tables.

"Hey sweetie, are you going to introduce me to your new friend?" A woman walked up from behind Leah and I'm pretty sure the younger woman just about died from embarrassment.

"Mom! You're not going with Dad?"

"It's a closed meeting. I don't make the short list. I'm sure we'll hear about it later if he can share. Hi. I'm Sue Clearwater. I'm guessing you're Sherman's friend, John." She stuck her hand out to shake my dad's. Clearwater. Huh. I guess I would have figured out the connection earlier if I'd ever bothered to get Leah's last name.

"Yes ma'am. I meant to look you up earlier, but with the new job and all, I got a little busy and kept putting it off." Dad looked a little guilty for that.

"Oh, don't bother yourself over it. I'm just glad you're settling in so quickly. Sherman explained that you ran into a bit of trouble in California. You'll have to come over for dinner sometime. But not for another week or so; my son Seth has been a bit under the weather lately."

"We'd like that, wouldn't we, Logan?"

"Yeah. Billy served some of your cooking our first night here. Best I've had in a long time."

We continued pleasantries for another half hour or so. Sue was the most normal of the Quileute adults I'd met yet; no unhealthy curiosity about my age or health history whatsoever.

Leah was quiet for the most part, but seemed to have gotten over her initial embarrassment of her mom sneaking up on her. By the end of the night, I was looking forward to our invite to the Clearwater's for dinner in the future. Having a home cooked meal that _I_ didn't cook was always a nice change. And I wouldn't mind seeing Leah again, either, as the only sort-of-friend that I'd made in town.

Unfortunately, however, things never go according to plan. A few days later, Leah's dad had a heart attack and passed away. It was completely unexpected. I'd never met him, but from the snippets I'd picked up from Sue at the bonfire, he sounded like a stand-up guy. Following Dad's suggestion, instead of preparing a traditional 'I'm sorry your loved one died' casserole, we put together a care basket filled with a mix of everyday items ranging from bread, lunchmeats and fruit to a half gallon of ice cream that the Clearwater's might find themselves needing or wanting in the coming days to save them a trip to the grocery store. I dropped it off while Dad was at work and Sue cracked a small smile at the rolls of toilet paper included in the care package. The poor woman looked much older than she had the other night and there were dark circles under her eyes from lack of sleep.

When I asked if Leah was around, Sue shook her head sadly and informed me that her daughter was having trouble dealing and wasn't seeing visitors at the moment. I told her to pass on my condolences and took my leave.

The depressing atmosphere from the Clearwater household reminded me too much of my own feelings after my mother was killed. I needed to get out of there. Instead of heading back to the resort, I drove north along the coast across the river and parked alongside a cliff near a rickety stairway labeled "Public Beach Access." It was a stormy, cold day and no one was in sight as far as I could see. I ignored the "Dogs must be on Leash" posting, shucked my clothing behind a rock outcropping and flipped. The salty wind whipped through my fur, the first droplets of rain sticking to it and making the strands stand on end in sticky clumps.

Nose to the wind, I sprinted through the pebbly sand. It was a different feeling against my paws than I'd felt before, never having run along the coast, and the added resistance against my muscles was just what I needed to run myself to exhaustion. Objectively, I knew it wasn't smart to be out here in the open without the cover of trees, but I hoped the dreariness of the day would keep most tourists and locals at bay. I kept my senses on high alert, unlike on my first run when I'd not been paying attention at all, using my nose and ears to keep watch (figuratively) for any interlopers.

The seaweed and decaying fish were the primary scents being carried on the wind, with no trace of human in the immediate vicinity. Between the crashing of the waves and the rushing of the wind past my ears, my auditory senses weren't as much help. Particularly since the wind was carrying sounds further than they would normally go. I was much better at discerning the age of scents based on their strength than determining how far a 30 mph wind had carried sound wave since the first was less distorted than the later.

I ran maybe eight miles up the coast before turning around. The beach wasn't continuous, but luckily it was low tide so I was able to climb and scramble over the rocks and tide pools. I did come across an interesting new smell at the middle of my loop which I quickly learned belonged to a very angry male elephant seal that chased me off his beach with a roar. The only other interesting thing I came across on my run was the sound of a sad, distant howl of a lone wolf. It must have been the creature preying on the local wildlife and those unfortunate hikers. I took note of the general direction the sound came from and I'd let my dad know that evening. I was a little worried because it sounded like it was coming from near the reservation and I'd hate for anything to happen to any of the people I'd met if the rabid animal couldn't be caught and put down. Even COG. I'd seen what death-by-wolf looked like and didn't wish that on anyone.

My clothes were right where I'd left them, but quite a bit wetter. Pulling on my sopping wet, gritty with sand jeans was just south of miserable and my shirt was little better but I figured the people in town would thank me for not driving up naked. And frankly, I wasn't that much of an exhibitionist anyways.

My muscles were nice and loose from my run and the chill on my skin from the combination of the wind and rain was a nice contrast to the warmth inside me. Dad wouldn't thank me for dripping water in the car but the thought of a warm shower to get the sand and salt off pushed me just to the wrong side of not caring. At least I was prepared for the dressing down I received when he got home from his shift.

The funeral was held a few days later. I hadn't known Harry Clearwater, and I'd only seen him the once, without even knowing it was him, at the bonfire, but based on the level of mourning of the entire town, he had been widely respected. Mr. Blackstone drove into town for the funeral and stayed with Sue but made the time to visit with Dad and me as well. The man was just as mysterious and cagey as I remembered; saying a lot of things which probably had more meaning than face value. I'd given up trying to find out what he meant years ago.

The one person who did not make an appearance was Leah. Her younger (I'd have said little, but the damn kid practically towered over me) brother was there, dressed in a too-small black suit and standing by his mother looking somber. When I had the chance to ask after his sister, Seth parroted his mother's answer from the other day that she was still closeted in her room not ready to see anyone. I understood on a personal level, but still wanted to talk to her myself; I did, after all, know what it was like to lose a parent too early.

It would be several more days before I saw my friend. And it was most definitely not in a manner I was expecting. I had just gotten home from work and was preparing a snack when the knock came at the door of our rented room.

Leah stood there: hair cropped short and wearing what looked to be an oversized t-shirt and a pair of work out shorts. It may have been my imagination, but I swear she looked taller than when last I saw her. She didn't say anything, but stood there staring me straight in the eyes as if she were desperately looking for something in them.

After what seemed like an eternity, she let out a frustrated exclamation. "Fuck!"

"Uh, do I need to put my foot on that brake?" The girl looked lost and pissed off all at the same time.

"Damn it. I'd almost hoped... Ugh! Why can't anything ever be easy? I thought maybe I would... Maybe you would be... I mean, you're not unfortunate looking and you have the right bloodline. If that's all it's about, why couldn't it have been you?"

I was completely lost as to what was going on here. "Why couldn't _what_ have been me?"

"Nothing, nothing. It doesn't matter since you aren't."

"...right. Are you okay? Where the hell have you been? You mom and brother kept making excuses for you."

"I've been camping. In the forest. I needed to get away. I hear it helps after you lose a parent."

I doubted her camping trip had been anything like mine after Mom died. Most people bring tents and marshmallows when they spend a week in the forest; they don't go running around on all fours chasing after Thumper so they can eat him.

"Did it?" I asked simply, choosing not to compare our experiences out loud.

"Not really. Life was still fucked up when I got back. More so than when I left, actually. Which a week and a half ago I didn't think was possible." She looked near tears and I suddenly felt like a horrible person for keeping her standing in the doorway.

"Hey. Come on in. I think I saw _Men in Tights_ on when I was flipping through channels. Nothing is better than a little Mel Brooks when you're having a bad day. Or week, as the case may be."

"Okay." She agreed easily, following me in. She seemed to be at her emotional wit's end; she moved woodenly with her head hung. The spark from earlier when she first arrived had fizzled out and she sunk into the worn cushions of the cabin with her feet tucked beneath her.

I grabbed two bottles of coke from the fridge, as well as a spoon and the pint of Cherry Garcia my dad had bought on a whim to test his self-control. I wasn't an expert on women; but hours of TV watching told me that ice cream made everything better. I couldn't believe I was doing this. I barely knew this girl and here I was playing the part of one of her girlfriends. Which made me wonder why she hadn't gone to see any of them instead. I handed her the ice cream and she dug in with little preamble as I flipped through channels to find the movie.

"So what's with the haircut?" I asked, trying to fill in the awkward silence.

"It was getting caught in things. It seemed easier just to cut it off."

"You couldn't just put it in a ponytail?" As soon as the question left my mouth, I knew I was in trouble. What idiot questions a girl's fashion choices and expects to make it out unscathed?

She sat up straighter and jabbed the spoon into the container with a glare. "What's wrong with my new hair?"

"Absolutely nothing. It suits you. I was just curious."

"It wasn't my first choice." She admitted, relaxing back into the couch. "There were some extenuating circumstances."

"Care to share?"

"I would, but then I'd have to kill you. Tribe secrets and all. You don't have the security clearance required to know the truth."

"Right." I smiled at her joke. "I bet you got bubblegum stuck in it."

She slapped me with a surprising amount of force and picked back up the spoon. "Just find the movie, Dumbass."

By the time Latrine made her first appearance in the film, Leah had scraped the ice cream container clean and was leaning against my side. She felt unusually warm and I hoped she wasn't coming down with something because however unlikely that my immune system couldn't fight it off, I had no desire to get sick. Twenty minutes later she was fast asleep, the toll of the past several days having caught up with her.

While she dozed, I contemplated the strange girl who I counted as my only friend in this new town. She was cute, I guess, even with her mouth hanging partially open as she rested against my arm. I hadn't known her long, but I could tell she was smart and tenacious. And outspoken. She'd never hesitated to speak her mind which was refreshing. It was too bad that life had dealt her such a crappy hand as of late and I hoped things would get easier for her soon.

I had planned on letting Leah get some much needed sleep, but the loss of noise woke her when I turned the TV off after the movie. She stretched as she sat up and blinked her eyes at the change in light as the sun started to set outside.

"Shit. I am so sorry. I totally didn't mean to pass out on you."

"Hey, I'm not complaining. It's not every day I get a pretty girl sleeping on me."

She blushed ever so slightly. "Perv." With a sigh, she started pulling her shoes back on. "I need to go. Thanks for dealing with my craziness again."

"Happy to help." And it was true.

"I don't know if I'll be able to hang out with you again." She said as we reached the door. "I kind of got a new job that's going to take up a lot of my time."

Well that was a little strange and sudden. "If you don't want to be friends, you don't need an excuse."

"No, no! I swear, it's not that. I want to be friends with you. You're sadly the only thing that's been normal in my life lately. This job is just really important to the Rez and I'm one of the few people that can do it. I'd decline if I could, but my hand was forced."

"Does it pay well at least?"

"Not exactly. It's pro bono."

"So you're taking on a time demanding job for no pay because you have to? Who put you up to this, the Elders?" I swear, nothing was ever simple with this girl.

"Kind of. But there's more to it than that." Of course there was.

"And if you tell me, you'll have to kill me?"

"You catch on quickly. I'm sorry. Believe me when I say I wish things were different. That's part of why I came over today; there was a loophole I was hoping to exploit so I could tell you but it didn't work out."

And thus ended a rather interesting afternoon. Leah left after giving me a halfhearted hug. I came to the conclusion once again that this entire place was insane. Between creepy old men, wild wolves eating hikers, awkward bonfires and mysterious jobs there was no end to the crazy. Still, it beat being attacked by the wolves from Wolf Lake. If hiding out here amongst the lunacy was what it took to keep me and Dad safe, then so be it.

True to her word, I saw little of Leah in the following days. When I did see her, it was at a distance, and she always was accompanied by at least one of the boys affected by the weird growth gene. That was the part that bothered me the most, I think, of her sudden shirking of our budding friendship. Not that she was hanging around with other men; I couldn't care less about that, but rather the fact that among them was her ex-boyfriend who had left her for her cousin. It just didn't sit well with me and didn't fit with what I knew of her personality. She had all but run through the middle of the bonfire to avoid this man and now she was with him daily. My gut told me this wasn't by her choice.

My only in into the elite group of giants was my cousin. Jake had been acting off as of late as well. But at least I knew what was causing his troubles; his girl had gone running off to Europe to see her ex-boyfriend and rumors abounded that the boyfriend and his family were moving back to Forks. It looked like his chances with Bella were shrinking. Despite his own sorrows, he seemed pleasantly surprised at my interest in Leah and assured me that she was fine; it was her new job making her collaborate with Sam and the two of them were coming to an understanding over the unusual end of their romance. Regardless, Leah continued to avoid me, going so far as to crossing the street when she saw me in town. There was something more going on here, but no one was talking, at least to me. I guess I had my own secrets that I was keeping from everyone, so I couldn't really judge.


	4. Chapter 4

4

After Harry Clearwater's death, Old Quil's interest in me seemed to double. The old man kept trying to corner me into conversations about my life history and more than once I saw him talking to my father too. I think Dad finally came to see how creepy the tribe elder was being when the both of us heard him whisper "He's still young enough" to himself while staring at me from across the produce section at the grocery store. Following that incident, Dad stepped in and told the old man to stop bothering me or he'd go through more official channels to see that I was left in peace. Still, I had caught him more than once watching me from across the street with a pensive look on his face.

Strangely, with Leah's exit from my life so quickly after she literally ran into it, Merle became my new BFF. The ninety-two year old not-employee of Newton's was awesome, unlike creepy Old Quil. Merle's eighty-seven year old wife, Pearl, was just as cool. I think the two of them had pseudo adopted me as a grandson since their son Earl (I kid you not) and their grandkids and great grandkids lived on the East Coast and didn't visit often. I'd started joining them after work on Wednesdays for an early dinner. Pearl always brought out her good china and actual silverware for my visits and had a plate of homemade cookies and hot tea waiting when Merle and I got to their house after my shift. After the meal, which was generally served at 5:30 on the dot, I'd resign myself to watching recorded episodes of Wheel of Fortune while Merle worked on a crossword (to keep his mind sharp) and Pearl crocheted. I'd already been gifted with several of her projects including two pairs of socks and a bulky striped scarf for my birthday. Her most recent endeavor appeared to be a hat which I hoped she planned to give to someone else because burnt orange and lime green were not my colors.

My evenings with the old couple, while making me feel good about myself for brightening their lives, simultaneously made me despair for company my own age. Occasionally I'd work late at the store and get to interact with the high schoolers, but most of them just treated me as the sad older kid who failed to get the hell out of Dodge. The fact that technically I was an actively enrolled student at Stanford who just happened to be taking a year off and was not in fact a failure at life seemed lost on them.

At least Dad and I had finally moved out of the resort. Since he had found a somewhat steady job with the Forks PD we decided to upgrade to a little rental house on the rez closer to the Black's house. It didn't have the same views of the coastline that the cottage at the hotel had had, but it was nice to have a place to call home that was a little more private. The only bad thing about the move was the loss of housekeeping service. My room quickly degenerated into an approximation of my dorm in Palo Alto. I was currently running an experiment for how gross I had to let the place get before my dad gave in and cleaned it for me. I figured a few more days and I'd hit my target.

I broke up the monotony of my life by going on runs. I never went to the same place twice in an attempt to keep from leaving too many signs of my activities. Dad also kept me informed of where the current searches for the hiker-eating wolves where located so I could avoid those areas as well.

It was a rare sunny Friday and I was on my way back to La Push after work when I pulled off to the side of the road and decided to go for one of my runs. There were several unmarked hiking trails between the two small towns and I parked the jeep in a turnout and made my way up one of them. As per my usual modus operandi, I walked for a mile or so on the trail and then turned off the path and forged my way through the trees for another mile before ditching my clothes and flipping.

I immediately felt like something was off this time around when my four paws hit the ground. My enhanced human nose had detected hints of it, but as soon as the air passed through my canine nose, that same horrible smell from my first run permeated my senses and made me sneeze. This time the scent was fresh and I immediately started running to try and put some distance between myself and its source, whatever that may be.

I was so intent on avoiding the smell that I didn't hear the voices in front of me until I skidded into the clearing and saw the two men standing there. At least I think they were men. The sun glinted off them like a little girl's art project gone wrong. As if they'd rolled first in glue and then jumped in a pool of iridescent glitter.

They saw me before I could even think of turning around. I immediately ducked into the cover of some underbrush but found my instincts kept me from turning my back to them to escape. Something told me that taking my eyes off them might be the last thing I did.

"That's not one of them, is it?" The larger one asked.

"I don't think so." An accented voice returned. "He's too small."

"Can I eat him then, do you think?" They both were keeping a close watch on me, even as I tried to slowly slink backwards away from them.

Oh fuck no. No one was eating me. Not today. Not ever. The accented one, thankfully, seemed to agree with me. "I don't think they'd take kindly to us partaking of their sacred animal."

"Awww. Come on Jasper. They'll never know. It's been so long since I've had wolf. You know you want to too. Something different. Variety is the spice of life. Please?"

"I really don't think it's a good idea."

"Pretty, pretty please? With a mountain lion on top? He's not even running. That's just like, _asking_ to be eaten."

Accent man, Jasper, was starting to cave. I could tell by the twitching of his eyes and the clenching of his fists as he watched me.

The wind shifted directions and blew their scent towards me. It matched that sickening sweet smell I'd been trying to avoid. I bolted. Fuck, fuck, fuckity shit fuck. I heard them give chase, faster than was humanly possible. I was so screwed. My smaller size gave me the slightest of advantages as I could run under and through obstacles that they had to dodge around. My paws were kicking up clods of moist soil and moss as I fled. My mind quickly assessed my options; my pursuers where now between me and my car, so that was out. I could try and lose sight of them for long enough to flip back and hope they had no interest in eating naked men, but with their speed that was unlikely. My best chance was to avoid them for as long as it took to get to civilization, the closest of which was in La Push. I had a sneaking feeling that these guys had no desire to be seen poaching animals in all their glittery glory so if I could just get close enough to the town and potential witnesses I might be home free. The rez was several miles out though and I'd have to push myself to stay out of their reach that long.

A mantra of curse words punctuated each of my strides. I zigged and zagged between the trees, hugging to them as closely as possible to try and make up some distance. My lungs burned from heavy breathing and my legs ached from my exertion. I refused to die like this. Finding any and all hidden reserves of energy within myself, I ran faster through the pain.

If at that moment, someone had told me to predict what happened next, I never in a million years would have been able to accurately guess the divine appearance of the ginormous wolf that burst through the trees and leapt over me to face the men chasing me. The two men skidded to a halt in front of the beast and to their credit did not look too surprised at its presence.

"Man!" the big one sulked. "We're like two miles from the border. That's fair game."

The wolf growled and raised its hackles, tail sweeping low in an aggressive manner.

"Come on." Jasper grabbed his companions shoulder and turned him around "Sorry to intrude, we'll be on our way. No disrespect was meant."

The wolf growled louder and continued its low rumble until the intruders into its territory were out of sight back the way we'd come. I could still hear the larger one loudly complaining about losing his meal as they ran. Territory defended, the large animal gave a disdainful sniff and trotted back around to contemplate my presence. To my great distress, two more of the creatures melted out of the shadows to join the first.

They formed a circle around me while I cowered on the ground in front of them. I was exhausted from my first run for my life today and didn't have it in me to flee again. I wouldn't have made it far anyways. The three of them appeared to be having some sort of wolfy conversation that I was not privy to as heads kept whipping back and forth to look at one wolf or the other as if they were giving the current speaker their attention. Whatever they were saying, they seemed to come to a conclusion in regards to what to do with me. As one, they moved towards me to herd me in the direction of town. I refused to budge and gave a warning growl at the first to approach me. In the end, I knew I would probably end up doing whatever these guys wanted, but I felt the need to at least express my displeasure before acquiescing. At least it didn't look like they had immediate plans to kill me and eat me.

It wasn't until the lead wolf nudged me with his snout to get me to move that I noticed something really strange, not counting the obvious unnatural size of them. The wolf in the back had a bungee around one of his hind legs to which a pair of QTS basketball shorts were attached. That definitely was not normal wolf behavior. I sat up from my defensive crouch and cocked my head to one side, deeply sniffing the air.

Underneath the lingering abhorrent smell from the sparkly guys, the distinct scent of human came though clean and clear. I sniffed again, focusing on the individual scents. No. Fucking. Way. This was priceless.

In my relief, I _projected_ at my saviors. Had I not just narrowly escaped losing my life, I may have made a different decision. As it was, I was too relieved to care.

-Man, I have never been more relieved to see someone my entire life than I am to see you guys.-

It was as if I'd suddenly tuned in to a radio station with the volume cranked all the way up with no mute button. My head was flooded with images and thoughts not of my own making. I inadvertently whined with the sudden invasiveness of it all. The three wolves towering over me looked on in confusion as I flattened my ears to my skull.

-Is it talking to us?- One of them mentally shouted.

-I think it is. Did any of you know we actually spoke wolf?- Jake's voice yelled back in my head.

Loud. So very, very loud. Had no one taught them to moderate their volume? And they were flinging thoughts left and right; not just what they were trying to communicate to each other, but all their surface thoughts were being projected constantly as well. It was an overwhelming cacophony of mish-mashed pictures and voices. I couldn't shut it off. I'd never experienced anything quite like this. When I'd gone running with my aunt and uncle, projecting worked pretty much like a telephone; you just directed your thought at the person or group of people you wanted to talk to. Either Jake and his friends didn't know how to do that or their way of communicating worked way differently than what I was used to. I should have been laughing my ass off at the fact that they thought they were talking to a wild animal, instead I was reduced to squeezing shut my eyes and pawing at my ears in a vain attempt to block out the exogenous sights and sounds invading my head.

-Is it okay?- The one with the shorts asked. -He looks like he's hurt.-

-Could you all just stop thinking so loudly?- I shouted back at them. They looked perplexedly at each other. From their thoughts, I knew they were confused that I'd somehow invaded their 'pack mind' and wanted to ask their Alpha (Sam it would seem, _of course_ Leah's asshole ex was another one of them) what to do about me. -Jake! Seriously man, you guys don't need to yell. I'm right here.-

-It knows your name. How the hell does it know your name? Dude, this is way too freaky.-

-I don't know. I've never met any wolves. Let alone introduced mysel...-

I couldn't take it anymore. The mile a minute non-stop onslaught on my mind was quickly developing into a migraine. I flipped. Silence reigned supreme. It was beautiful. Glorious. Magnificent. Wondrous silence. I had no way of knowing if the three wolves now staring at me had been shocked to mental silence as well as physical silence and I rejoiced at that. Jake's eyes were wide and his mouth was literally hanging open.

"Yeah. So this" I gestured down at my naked self "just happened. Deal with it. Now, would someone please care to explain to me why I now know that one of you has inappropriate feelings for a toddler?"

The one with the shorts flipped and quickly slipped them on with his back turned to me. I recognized him as Jake's friend Embry.

"Uh. Hi." Well wasn't he articulate?

" _Hiiii._ " I drew the word out like I was talking to a little kid. Between running for my life and the brain damage I'd just endured, my patience was thin. "You can look at me you know."

"But you're naked."

"Thanks, Captain Obvious. You're a shapeshifter; you should be used to it. I don't have anything you don't have." He must have been pretty new to the werewolf thing to still be so uptight about nudity. Truth be told, I wasn't as comfortable with it as I was pretending to be since I'd never run with a real pack and had only really been seen in the buff by my aunt and uncle. Now _there_ was a man who truly didn't mind just letting it all hang out. Still, feigning nonchalance gave me the psychological edge over the prudish Embry.

I could tell Jake and the other wolf were laughing at him but he did eventually settle his eyes on my face. "So, uh, you need to come with us to meet the alpha. Sam can explain what's happening to you and why. He can help."

"No thanks." I didn't want anything to do with Sam. I may not have known Leah very long, and the girl still wasn't talking to me, but I didn't want to betray our budding friendship regardless.

Embry seemed at a loss for why I wouldn't want to meet with their leader. "Why not? Aren't you curious as to why you can turn into a wolf?"

"I'm going to go with because Sam is a douchebag and genetics respectively."

Embry looked back at his friends for direction. This obviously wasn't going how he'd planned. Jake apparently took pity on him and flipped as well. He didn't have clothes to put on and looked very uncomfortable standing there in his birthday suit.

"Hey Logan."

"Jake." God, this was awkward.

"Sooo, we really need you to come back and talk to Sam with us. Meet the rest of the pack. Really. There are things you need to know now that you've shifted. Sam can teach you all you need to know about shifting; he was the first of us to phase nearly two years ago, so he's had time to figure it all out."

"Wow. Flipping for two whole years? And now he knows everything there is to know?" That was doubtful. I wondered why Sam was the oldest of the wolves; surely their parents could flip too. Then again, there were some obvious differences between us; perhaps we were different breeds or something.

"Why do I get the feeling you're being sarcastic? Look, I get that you're probably confused as hell about what's going on, but we're just trying to help. I swear."

"You obviously haven't noticed, but I'm not all that new to the wolf thing. Now the crazies chasing me through the woods? Yeah, those threw me for a loop. But I've been flipping since I was fifteen. That's over twice as long as your alpha." My mind was whirling, still catching up to the fact that, yes, my half-cousin was in fact a giant shape shifting wolf. With no known relation to the only other pack that I knew of. Perhaps it would be in my best interest to play along to find out more about what was going on without exposing my uncle's pack's existence.

"He's your alpha too." Embry chimed in, breaking through my reverie.

"He's really not." Playing along or not, I was not giving up my lone wolf status to fall into line behind some upstart. Besides, if anyone could claim to be my alpha, it was Uncle Luke.

The three teenagers shared a look (well, two teens and one wolf.) "Just meet with him and you'll see." Jake implored.

"On one condition." I conceded. "My jeep is parked back along the highway. I need to get it and my other things that I left in the woods. Like my clothes. And my phone."

"I can go get them and drive the car back." Embry offered. "The leeches may still be out there. They won't bother me, but if they see your tiny ass again there are no guarantees."

And there it was; the obvious dig at the fact that I was so much smaller than them when flipped. I chose to ignore it. "Fine. My stuff is tucked into a tree about a mile west of the second trail marker off the road. The jeep is at the trailhead. You get any scratches on it, and my dad will kill you. Wait, you _are_ old enough to drive, right?"

Embry rolled his eyes. "I guess you'll find out, won't you? I'll see you guys back at Sam's." With that, he stripped the basketball shorts off and looped them around his ankle before flipping and disappearing into the trees.

"Seriously, if he messes up that car he's in deep shit. We've been through a lot together."

"It will be fine. Don't worry." My cousin told me. "Now come on. Quil has already told Sam we're coming." Jake flipped back and he and the other wolf, who I finally had a name for, waited expectantly.

Mentally preparing myself, I took a deep breath and exhaled into my wolf form. Luckily for me, flipping back and forth appeared to have re-set the connection I had created between myself and Jake's pack's hive mind. The two of them managed to have confused looks on their canid faces when they couldn't speak to me over their mind link, but there was no way in hell that I was opening that can of worms on purpose ever again.

I trotted to the edge of the small clearing and glanced back to see if they were coming. Sure enough, the two behemoths were right behind me. I stepped to the side and let Jake take the lead since he knew where we were going and Quil brought up the rear. I had to move at a light run to match their easy lop with their longer legs. After my mad cap run earlier, it was all I could do to keep up. Jake must have noticed my huffing and puffing as he shortened his strides to a walk.

We weren't heading straight towards the town, but instead Jake lead us to a little isolated house on the outskirts where Embry was waiting with my Jeep in the driveway around the back of the house. I don't even want to think about how fast he had to have driven to beat us here, but a cursory inspection didn't reveal any new dings or marks on the paint so I chose to let it slide. From the look on his face where he stood on two legs by the driver's door, he'd hoped to get a rise out of me for his Speed Racer impression.

When he saw I wasn't taking the bait, he instead stepped aside. "You know, it's considered bad form to drive a Cherokee around here. You've got to have tribe pride, man. You're things are in the back. You should have a minute or two to get dressed before Sam gets here."

"Thanks." I said, after having flipped. I reached into the back for my pants and had just finished tugging them on when Sam and two others wandered into the yard through the same trees backing the property that Jake, Quil, and I had come from. Only Sam was in human form; his four-legged packmates flanking him like an honor guard. Quil trotted over to join the others while Jake flipped and pulled on the cut off shorts that Sam tossed at him. Embry remained standing by my Jeep, kicking at a small rock with his bare toes and watching it skitter around in the dust.

I don't know what I was thinking, having agreed to this. My dad was going to kill me. At least six people were now in on my secret and I had a feeling that number would only grow. So much for my low profile. The only saving grace was that Jake was family and if things hit the fan with the Wolf Lake pack, I'd have at least someone on my side that could fight back on their terms. That is, assuming that Jake wanted too.

"Logan Black." Sam said, addressing me.

"Not quite. It's Kanin."

"Kanin, then." He amended. "Welcome to the pack. We have some things to discuss."

"So it would seem. Jake tells me you're the alpha of this pack."

"Just until he's old enough to take over. The Black line is the alpha line; I'm just holding his place. Of course, you're from that line too, but since you're not from..."

I cut him off. "Look, I have no interest in taking your pack from you. I'm perfectly happy on my own."

"But that's the thing, Logan. You're not on your own anymore. You are a part of this pack; it's your duty to this tribe."

"You can't have it both ways, Sam. Either I'm a part of this, in which case I'm the oldest, most experienced shifter here, and from the Black line to boot, and therefore I'm in charge, or I'm an outsider and you can't boss me around."

"You don't understand." Jake broke in. "The reason we can phase; it's about the safety of the tribe. We all need to stand together against the leeches."

"The leeches?" I'd heard them use the term before but hadn't thought anything of it.

"Those things in the forest that wanted to eat you. Cold ones. Vampires. Being around them is what triggered your wolf." Jake explained. "There must have been some hanging around wherever you were living when you were 15."

Huh. So without the proper stimulus their kind would never go through the change. I guess that explains why Sam was the oldest shifter; if those weirdos from the woods hadn't been around when Billy and his generation were younger then there would have been no reason for them to become wolves. It also explained Old Quil's obsession with my personal life. At least I hoped it did.

"Regardless of my origins, and can I just say; vampires. Really? If I wasn't a shapeshifting wolf, I'd have you all committed. But irrespective of whatever these vampires have to do with your pack, they aren't my problem. I've got my own shit to worry about." I paused, a thought coming to me. "They're the ones snacking on the hikers, aren't they?" Damn. Dad wasn't going to like this. He wasn't safe out there combing the woods with his patrol unit if the supernatural was involved. Just our luck. We moved out here to get away from being hunted.

"Not those ones exactly," Sam said, "But more of their kind. The pair you ran into and the rest of their coven claim to feed only on animals. We have an agreement with them in exchange for their continued presence near our lands."

"So then what does this have to do with me?"

"Like it or not, you _are_ a part of this pack now. You will help us patrol the borders and take care of any bloodsuckers that trespass on the rez and hunt down the ones attacking the hikers. It's your responsibility as a Protector of this tribe." Sam stood to his full towering height and glared down at me; daring me to disagree.

"No." Challenge accepted. Worthy cause or not, no one told me what to do. Except my dad. Or Uncle Luke. And maybe Aunt Sophia. Certainly not jackasses the same age as I with superiority complexes. I'd learned enough from our brief meeting to start to piece the rest together so I decided it was time to leave. I turned on my heel and started back to the Jeep with the keys still in the ignition where Embry left them.

"Stop right there. I am your alpha; you will listen to me." Sam demanded, the timbre of his voice changing. Embry and Jake inhaled sharply at the command and I turned to look at the gathered pack.

"Get over yourself. I'm leaving." And I did. Jake stared after me with an openly puzzled look on his face and Embry was holding back a laugh at the look on Sam's face. The gathered wolves also had varying expressions ranging from amused disbelief to outright anger. I backed the Jeep out of the long gravel driveway without another look back.

On the way back home, I dialed my dad's cell phone and mentally crossed my fingers that he wasn't occupied with work and would be able to pick up. It was frowned on for him to have his personal phone on him while on duty, but circumstances what they were for us, he'd decided to risk Chief Swan's ire. From the few times I'd met the man now, I figured he'd be understanding, especially given the backstory with the cultists Dad had told him when he first got here. Luck was on my side for once again today and Dad picked up on the third ring.

"Logan? What's wrong?" He demanded right away, knowing that I would not have called unless it was an emergency.

"I wanted to give you a heads up; I have a feeling Billy is going to be calling you later. I need to talk to you about what happened today but if he gets a hold of you before you get home, don't mention Uncle Luke and mom's side of things."

"Logan... What do you mean by that?" His tone held a warning in it. "What is going on? Do we need to leave town?"

"I'll fill you in when you get home. Promise. For now, let's just say that the legends that were told at the bonfire are more historical than fiction."

"I'm leaving work now. Stay at the house and don't go anywhere until I get there." I could hear him scrambling around moving papers in the background; he must have been at the station when I called. "You hear me? I'll be right there."

"Yeah Dad. I'll be here when you get home." I pulled into our driveway and hung up the phone before letting my head fall forward onto the steering wheel and inadvertently setting off the horn. I sat there for a minute; the loud, drawn out honking surely disturbing the neighbors. I found it cathartic; droning out everything else in the world around me. With a sigh, I pulled myself up and clambered out of the car and into the house. Why couldn't my life be easy?


	5. Chapter 5

5

Dad made it home in record time; flying into the driveway and kicking up gravel behind the tires as he skidded to a stop. I half wondered whether he'd run the lights and siren on his way here. I hoped not. The front door banged open and closed and my Dad strode into the living room like a man on a mission.

"What the hell is going on Logan? Billy called me at the station just after I got off the phone with you; said we needed to sit down and discuss some things. Tell me you weren't discovered."

"To be fair, I discovered _them_ first."

"Explain." Dad was pacing around the room while I sat on the couch.

"It turns out I'm not half-human after all; I'm a full pedigreed mutt. I got wolf genes from both mom _and_ you. Jake and his friends – all those guys with that 'recessive gene' Billy told us about – they're shifters. Wolves."

"What?"

"I ran into some trouble in the woods and Jake and some of his friends came to my rescue. They had no clue it was me and vice-versa until after."

"What kind of tr..." His question stopped short when he noticed another car pulling into our driveway. Sam got out of the driver's side and Jake ducked out of the back, moving to the passenger's side to help his father out while Sam pulled the wheelchair from the trunk. "Great. We have company."

"Now would be a bad time to tell you that I haven't cleaned my room yet, wouldn't it?"

Dad just gave me the stink-eye as he stomped towards the front door and threw it open to admit our unwelcome guests who were just making it up the walk.

"I told you there was nothing to discuss, Billy. What the hell are you doing here?"

"Easy, John." Billy said from his chair, which was being pushed by Jake. Sam trailed behind, glaring angrily at me. "I feel there are some things that must be explained, whether you want to discuss them or not. And your front porch is not the best place for this discussion."

Dad stood aside reluctantly as the trio made their way into our house. Sam and Jake stood quietly on either side of Billy's wheelchair like a pair of towering honor guards. I remained comfortably sprawled on the couch and dad plopped himself down into the winged chair and pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingers. "What do you want with me and my son?"

"It must have come as quite the shock when your boy went through the change." Billy began. "I can't even begin to imagine what I would have done if it had happened to Jake and I didn't know of our tribe's history and that of our grandfather."

"We're past the point where I can pretend to have no clue what you're talking about, aren't we?" Dad asked morosely.

Billy chuckled. "Yes, brother; I'm afraid we are. You and Logan are unfortunately descended from a very long line of shapeshifters."

I heard Dad curse Mr. Blackstone under his breath. Sue's crazy cousin had always hinted that there was more to my dad than met the eye. I'd bet everything I owned that this was what he was alluding to. That man knew everything.

"Well." I said. "I'm glad that's all out in the open. Now that everyone knows, can we all just go about our business as usual?"

"I'm afraid not." Sam spoke at last, still frowning at me. "You left before I could explain how things are going to work."

"Oh, I think you explained them pretty well. I'm just choosing not to fall into your rank and file like a good little doggy."

"You don't _have_ a choice! None of us do!" Sam clenched his fist around the handles of Billy's chair and I wondered that the metal wasn't bending.

"You think we wanted this?" Jake asked.

"Boys, calm down!" Billy commanded. "Now; we will all discuss this like adults. Logan; you inherited the ability to shapeshift from your Quileute ancestors. This gift comes with a responsibility to our tribe and is only activated when the need is at hand."

"The cold ones: vampires. They trigger the change." I filled in for my dad. He mouthed the word back at me incredulously. I shrugged at him with a small nod to let him know he had heard correctly. His head rolled heavenward and he stared at the ceiling, looking very much like he was about to lose his cool.

"Precisely. When they encroach on our territory the change is initiated in our young men. This gives you the ability to fight them and protect our people."

"Logan was fifteen when he went through the change; nowhere near Quileute lands or your 'Cold ones'" Dad pointed out.

"Like Jake told Logan earlier;" Sam said, "it's probable that a group of nomads wandered through where you were living. Otherwise, there would have been no reason for Logan's wolf to wake."

Billy nodded. "But, now that it is, and now that you are here, you have obligations to this tribe. There are Cold Ones out there threatening both La Push and Forks and the more of you there are that stand against them, the better chance you have. The pack needs you Logan."

"Look;" I told them, sitting up a bit straighter. "I get that you all feel your gift comes with some 'higher purpose' price tag. But I'm not buying it. From what I've gathered, you gave the very things that caused the change permission to settle here. Sam mentioned some sort of treaty. That's just asking for trouble. If you knew them being around would cause a problem, why let them stay? You brought this on your selves and I want no part in it."

"I think you'll find it hard to stay away, Logan." Billy told me. "It's in your blood; the need to keep the Cold Ones at bay. Just let Sam help you learn." Seriously; this was getting beyond ridiculous. Didn't anyone ever tell them that no means no?

"My son said 'no.'" Thank you, Dad. "More than once now, it would seem. If he doesn't want to run around playing border patrol he doesn't have to."

"We all take our turn. It is an honor to protect the tribe. Your son should be proud to be one of us." Sam tried to reason with my dad.

"It sounds like a cult and a breach in child labor laws. If there weren't some pretty crazy extenuating supernatural circumstances here, I'd report you all to CPS. Now get out of my house before I decide it's worth it to go that route anyways. The media loves a good scandal from a reservation."

Jake held his breath, Sam seethed, and Billy sighed. "Alright John, we'll go. I just wish you would see reason. If you'd grown up here like you should have, you would understand the importance of this. Sam, Jake; let's go. Logan; when you change your mind, just let one of the pack know."

"Thanks, but I won't be changing my mind."

"We'll see." Jake said as they retreated through the door. "We all came around eventually. You're just fighting it too hard. Besides, I'm sure you'll have unanswered questions at some point. One word: imprinting" the last he said with a smirk as he shut the door.

"Imprinting?" I repeated to my dad.

He just shrugged. "Pack your things. We're moving."

"What?! No! We just got settled into the house."

"We can't stay here any longer. It's too risky with that pack running around; they'll draw attention from Wolf Lake."

"And if they do, I'll just stay out of sight while my baby cousin and his friends destroy them. You didn't see them, Dad. Jake and these other guys are the size of horses when they flip. One look at them and the Wolf Lake pack will go running home with their tails between their legs."

"They're that big, huh?"

"Yeah. I may carry that gene, but I'm definitely mom's type of wolf. Look, at least sleep on it, ok? I'm not all that happy with how melodramatic and needy these guys are being, but if push comes to shove, I'd bet on the Quileutes to kick some Wolf Lake ass."

Dad sighed. "Fine. I'll think on it. But regardless, there will be some changes around here if we stay. Now, excuse me while I go make a call to an old friend who knows too much for his own good."

I did not envy Mr. Blackstone that evening. Dad was on a verbal warpath. They shouted back and forth over the phone for over an hour. Well, Dad shouted. Mr. Blackstone pretty much took it all in stride from what my enhanced hearing could pick up.

I went to bed early that night; I'd had a trying day and 8:30 sounded like a completely acceptable time to hit the sack. Just as I turned out the light, the screen on my phone came to life. It was Jake. The kid had been texting me nearly non-stop since he, Sam and his dad had left earlier that evening. The gist of his string of messages was that I needed to give his pack a chance and that I didn't fully understand the circumstances. Till now, I had yet to send back a reply. With a groan, I sat back up in my bed and dialed my cousin's number. It would take too long to type out what I wanted to say.

"Jake," I said when he answered, not giving him a chance to talk. "You're not helping your case, man. Just leave it alone. If you don't stop with the texts, I'll be forced to block your number. This doesn't mean you're not still my favoritist half-cousin ever, but seriously: stop. I'm going to bed now. If my phone lights up again I'm punching you in the face. Good night." I heard him calling my name and telling me not to hang up as I did just that. Teenagers. So needy. I flipped my phone upside down on the nightstand and buried my face in my pillow until morning.

Dad had already left for work when I finally dragged myself out of bed the next day. The fact that he actually left me here suggested that some of his paranoia from yesterday had subsided. Sure enough, a post-it note left on the coffee pot told me not to worry about packing- we could stay here for the time being. It was a small victory. I hated moving. And packing. Mostly packing.

That day and the next few days, when I wasn't at work in Forks, I mostly stuck to the house. I didn't want to stir up the hornet's nest that was the angry group of teenaged shifters (and Sam). More than once, one or two of them would walk or drive by my house on their way to the Black residence and I could feel them glaring at me through the walls of the house. I'm 90% certain that it was Embry who took a sharpie to the Jeep and scribbled over all the 'Cherokee's and wrote in 'Quileute' above the chrome logos instead. I get that I had upset them by not joining their little club, but this was a little much. Dad wasn't pleased about that either. Luckily, the sharpie came off pretty cleanly with a liberal dose of vodka.

Four days after Wolfageddon one of the changes Dad had threatened made itself readily apparent. I was just getting home from work and the grocery store when I was tackled from behind as I pulled the bags from the trunk. My quick reflexes were the only thing that saved the eggs from going splat. Carefully, I sat the bags back down in the Jeep and pried the small arms from around my waist.

"Logan!" My cousin; Romilly. Luke and Sophia's youngest and only surviving kid. I'd only met her a few times, mostly at her older sibling's funerals (and boy wasn't that morbid) but she had always taken a bit of a shine to me. Like how most little kids find teenagers to be the most exciting thing ever. She'd pretty much been a barnacle on my leg when she was younger. Hopefully she'd grown out of some of that. She had to be eleven or twelve by now.

"Hey Squirt. What are you doing in my neck of the woods?"

"Your dad called my dad. He said you guys needed help. So we came to visit." She grabbed some of the groceries from the trunk without being asked. "I've never seen your house before; you guys always came to see us. Your room is worse than mine! And it smells bad."

"Thanks, Rome. I try my best."

She giggled. "Boys are disgusting."

"That's not what you were saying earlier." My aunt's voice came from the doorway where she had opened it to let us in with our load. Romilly blushed pink and glared at her mom. "Hi Logan. Your dad told us you're in a spot of trouble with his side of the family."

"Did he now?"

"We got here a quickly as we could." Sophia grabbed two of the bags from her daughter and set them on the kitchen counter where she promptly began to unload them.

Romilly sat the rest of her lazy-man's load down on the ground and hopped up onto a barstool to watch her mom and me put the groceries away. "Yep. It's awesome. They pulled me out of school and everything. I get to start my summer early! Everyone was so jealous." She was swinging her legs back and forth on the stool and kicking at the panels below the countertop.

I looked at my aunt questioningly; I had thought Romilly was being homeschooled to account for them moving around so frequently to stay ahead of the Wolf Lake pack.

"Boarding school. Under a pseudonym. We wanted her to have some normalcy in her life." Was her answer to my unasked question. "Luke went into town to meet up with your Dad; they'll both be back this evening."

"I don't get why you're here. And I don't know how much my dad told you guys, but there isn't really anything you can do to help. You're just putting yourselves at risk being in the state."

"There is plenty we can do to help. Your uncle is an alpha, albeit his status is under contention right now. If this other pack keeps trying to coerce you into joining, We'll tell them you're already part of a different pack. Simple."

"Except for the part where this draws attention to your family. You've already lost so much; I don't want to be responsible for you losing more. I purposefully didn't mention Mom's side of my genetics to them just for this reason."

"Logan; _you_ are our family too. We're here because you need us. End of story. Now, I'm going to get started on something for dinner. Why don't you show Romilly around town? I doubt this other pack will harass you with her around if they don't want to reveal themselves to outsiders."

"Sweet. Let's go to the beach!" Romilly all but dragged me from the house and I resigned myself to my fate. They were here to stay. There was no arguing with my aunt.

Romilly had apparently been planning a beach excursion since they got to La Push as she was already wearing her suit under her clothes and had a bag with a smiling sun wearing shades ready to go by the front door with a towel and sunscreen. I didn't have the heart to tell her that even in late May, the Pacific Ocean was not fit for swimming in. Hell, the Pacific stayed pretty darn cold year round this far north. Still, I dutifully carried the overly happy pink bag out to the Jeep and drove my cousin out to First Beach.

The weather wasn't ideal, but then again it wasn't the worst either; the sky hung somewhere between overcast and sunny with rays of warm light filtering through low-lying clouds. I parked the jeep by the side of the road and the two of us scrambled over large pieces of driftwood and rocks to find a stretch of beach that wasn't cluttered with kelp that had washed ashore. Romilly found strange pleasure in picking up the little kelp bladders and popping them, sending saltwater squirting in all directions. She finally stopped when she got herself in the eye.

We picked a spot about a quarter mile from the Jeep where an outcropping of rocks provided some natural protection from the wind where Romilly spread her towel on the pebbly sand well back from the waterline and promptly plopped herself down to 'work on her tan.' I hadn't realized girls started worrying about stuff like that at such a young age. Regardless, I had no desire to sit and watch her lay in the sun. While I kept her within sight, I decided to take advantage of the lower than usual tide and explore around the tide pools that had been uncovered.

I chose not to think on the ramifications of Luke and Sophia coming here. Instead, I focused on not slipping on the seaweed laden rocks while climbing out towards where the waves were breaking. It had been forever since I'd been tidepooling; I had enjoyed it as a kid and I could remember my mom taking me out on the sandstone rocks along the coast around Monterey once. She'd packed a picnic lunch for the three of us and we'd visited the aquarium while we were there. I mostly recalled standing up on a stool and reaching too far into the little touch-pool they had set up so I could to try and reach a sea urchin. Dad had pulled me back before I fell in face first.

Something shiny caught my eye at the bottom of one of the pools. After glancing to the shore to be sure that Romilly was still content tanning, I shimmied down towards the water and reached my hand into the crevice to pull out the shiny. It was stuck pretty well between two boulders, but with a little supernatural strength I was able to pry it free. It was a good sized abalone shell polished to iridescence on both sides by sand and years of being submerged in the water. Cool. I'd never found one of these before. Rome would probably like it. Girls loved shiny things.

I climbed back out of the hole with the intention of giving my cousin my find when a fist made contact with my face and I went sprawling backwards into the water with a splash. The back of my head cracked painfully against the wet rocks and I stared dazedly up into the sun for several moments before my eyes focused on the backlit figure staring down at me as I lay in the saltwater. My fingers scrabbled for purchase on the slick rocks as I tried to heave myself back out of the tide pool.

"What the fuck, Leah?" I demanded, finally coming to my feet. I gingerly ran my handover the back of my head and flinched when I felt the flap of skin move where the sharp rocks had cut a bit of my scalp away from my skull. Warm blood dribbled down my back from the injury in stark contrast to the cold dripping salt water. I patted the skin back into place and hoped that my enhanced healing would kick in soon and close the wound. Great. I showed Leah the blood on my hand. "Seriously? Ouch!"

"That was for not telling me the truth."

"What?"

"You _knew_ there was truth to the legends. _You knew._ And you sat there next to me and made fun of them. And then when I... Why didn't you just tell me?" Oh. So that's what was bothering her. I'd put two and two together over the past few days and had pegged her for one of the local pack. All told, I'd identified a total of seven boys and three girls that were likely candidates based on how they all hung out together all the time.

"Look, I had just met you. And honestly, I had no clue. It's not exactly a topic you open up with: 'Hi, I'm Logan; I like long walks on the beach and howling at the moon.' How the hell was I supposed to know there were more shifters running around?"

"Well, you've known for four days now. What's your excuse for not talking to me now?"

"Last time we spoke, you pretty much told me to stay away from you. Besides, this works both ways; you could have contacted me, too. You've known about me just as long as I've known about your pack." I started back towards the shore and Leah turned to follow me. I could see Romilly still on the beach and she was just now taking notice that we weren't the only ones out here. Leah still hadn't noticed my cousin but it was only a matter of time now that the younger girl was making her way towards us.

"Sam told us to leave you alone for a few days. He thought it would make you see reason and you'd come join us on your own to get answers. He's lost his patience though and sent me as an emissary."

"And you thought the best way to open up negotiations was to break my nose?"

Leah had the decency to look at least the tiniest bit ashamed. "Sorry. I didn't think I'd hit you hard enough to break anything."

"But you're not sorry you hit me?" I pinched my nose between my fingers and shifted it around just to be sure it was not in fact broken.

She just shrugged. And then, finally noticing the blonde girl approaching us she turned her ire towards Romilly. "Scram kid. We're not in the business of helping little lost tourists find their mommy and daddy."

Romilly ignored her. "Is this your _giiiirl_ friend?"

I sighed. "Romilly; this is my friend, Leah. Leah; this is my cousin, Romilly. She and my aunt and uncle are in town visiting for a while."

"Oh." Leah stated. "Oops. Sorry kid."

Romilly just smiled. "No biggie. It's times like this when my buddy says: 'you gotta put your behind in your past.'"

"That's very, uh, mature of you?" Leah complimented questioningly. From her slightly confused look at Rome's phrasing, I think she'd missed the Lion King reference. I'm actually a little embarrassed that I caught it myself.

"Eh, I don't have time to hold grudges. I'm going to be dead before I make it to eighteen." The suddenness of the statement and the frankness in her tone made me do a double take. I had thought she was dealing with Linnea's recent death too well. Turns out I was right.

"Don't say that Romy. You'll be fine."

"Why not? It's the truth. My brother and sisters didn't make it; Alderic and Mellina were seventeen when they passed. Linnea was only fifteen." She shrugged. "I've just got to enjoy the time I have."

Leah was looking at my cousin with something approaching pity. "Are you sick?"

I hugged Romilly to my side with one arm. "The Quileute's aren't the only ones on the short end of the gene lottery. It's a genetic quirk from my mom's side of the family. It manifests in the mid-teens and my other cousins didn't make it." I explained for a now somber Romilly. "Come on; let's get you back to the house. It's starting to get a little cold out here."

Romilly's sudden declaration of her imminent mortality had deflated Leah of whatever anger she had built up inside her. "I'm so sorry." She almost whispered. "I'm sure Logan is right; you'll be just fine."

Leah hung back with me while Romilly packed up her beach bag and the three of us walked along the beach to where I had parked the car. I didn't see any other vehicles. "Do you want a ride? For old time's sake?" I asked Leah.

"That'd be nice. I, uh, ran here."

Leah jumped in the front seat which left Romilly stuck in the back. She had quickly bounced back from her morose mood on the way to the car and was leaning forward on the middle console with her elbows and chatting away with Leah as I drove us all back into town. I probably should have told her to put her seat belt on, but I had an in with the local PD. Leah seemed the slightest bit uncomfortable with the attention from the younger girl but took it well in stride. I guess she was more used to dealing with young boys because of her brother and the sudden requests for makeup and hair tips from a pre-teen girl were foreign territory. I was just glad they left me out of the conversation.

I had tuned the two of them out when the topic changed to underwire vs. sports bras and was therefore unprepared when Romilly shot a question my way. "So do you think it'd be okay?"

"Huh?"

"I told you he wasn't listening." Leah said, poking my shoulder.

"I said: can Leah stay over for dinner?" Romilly repeated.

"Yeah. Can I? Pleeeease?"

"What did I miss? When did you two become BFFs?"

"Somewhere between waxing and the tackiness of exposed bra-straps. You and I still need to talk about you coming to your senses." Leah looked at me pointedly. "Either I stalk your house until you're done eating and grab you then; all cranky from not having eaten. Or, I get a free meal and we still talk afterwards but I'm in a better mood. Your choice."

"You really want to sit through a meal with my whole family? On purpose? You do know we aren't dating, right? Also; I'm not changing my mind on Sam's 'offer.' You can tell him to suck it." I didn't see any harm in her staying and meeting everyone. If anything, it would give Luke and Sophia a chance to scope out what I was dealing with while still remaining incognito. "I guess you may as well stay. Sophia always cooks plenty extra."

"Yes!" Romilly celebrated. "You can show me how to do that nail thing after dinner, okay?"

"Sure thing. Right after your cousin and I clear some things up."

Dad was less than pleased with having Leah join us. He knew she was up to something. Particularly after I introduced her as one of Sam's friends. Leah glared at me for that one. Sophia welcomed the other female wolf warmly into the house and after greeting me with a half hug and a pat on the shoulder, Uncle Luke just sat observed.

Dinner was a rather awkward affair. After everyone had sat down, Sophia brought out the two large casseroles she had thrown together and set them on the dining table on either side of the giant bowl of green salad. Only Romilly chattered away mindless of the tension at the table while her mom dished out servings of King Ranch chicken onto everyone's plate. Sophia tried to keep things light; asking Leah about life on the reservation and what people did around here for fun, but the scowl on my dad's face and the silent looming of my uncle made for a rather unpleasant affair. Leah handled it well and ignored the looks my dad was giving her and politely answered my aunt. No one but my dad and Romilly was able to eat their fill at the dinner table; the rest of us were trying to maintain the illusion of human appetites. Something told me that the four of us that had held back would all be sneaking more food later.

"So what more is there left for you to say?" I asked Leah once the meal was over and the two of us were alone in the yard out back. "I'm not enlisting in your pack."

"I wish you'd change your mind. I could use a friend in the pack. The fact that you're sane would be a nice change too. I'm sick of listening in on all their delusions. If I have to see Bella naked one more time in Jake's mind I'll scream. He hasn't even actually seen the girl naked; he's just imagining all the good bits."

"That pack mind thing? Yeah; I tapped into that once on accident. That was more than enough for me. You guys can't control what you share any better?" It would drive me crazy listening/looking in on everyone's thoughts all the time.

"We've tried. It takes a lot of focus to hide anything. Most of the time it's not worth the effort. I don't have any secrets from any of them anymore."

"You really not doing a good job of selling your pack to me."

"Look; none of us asked for this. Not me, not you, not Jake or Sam or any of the others. It just happened. Because of the damn bloodsuckers. If I didn't have the support of the pack I'd be even crazier than I am now. Yeah; it sucks having to run all these patrols at random hours during the night and the chance of death-by-vampire isn't all that awesome either, but we're in it together. We support each other and all that shit. You may think you're doing fine on your own; but believe me: no matter how stupid those boys are, they're better than nothing. Would I give up being a wolf if I could? In a heartbeat. You have no idea what this stole from me. There is no way I could do this alone. Just give the pack a chance. You may find they help." It was the most sincere I'd heard Leah be since I met her. The girl was usually sarcasm and curse words.

"I can't." I told her, almost regretfully. "There are still things about me that you don't know. My wolf comes with its own burdens."

"You were fifteen when you first shifted, yeah?" She asked. I nodded in response, not sure what that had to do with anything. "That's when your mom died, wasn't it? Something tells me your 'camping trip' and mine have a lot more in common than we both initially thought. I killed my dad when I phased; that's why I ran that night. You must have killed your mom the same way."

Well that was a morbid conclusion to jump to. "My mom _was_ murdered on the day I first flipped. But not by me. She isn't the reason I won't join you guys. And I thought your dad had a heart attack?"

"He did. It was the shock of seeing me phase. He knew Seth was about to change, he was prepared for that. But girls aren't supposed to be able to and so when I did...Boom. Heart attack. Dead." She punctuated her statement by pounding herself on the chest.

This made no sense. "What do you mean girls aren't able to flip? What about the other two girls that are always hanging around with you guys?"

"Kim and Emily? They're imprints. Not shifters." There was that word again; the one Jake had found so amusing the last time we'd spoken face to face. "I'm the first female wolf ever."

"That's not possible." Surely Mr. Blackstone had said something to Sue if not Leah herself. The man was cagey, but I'd never known him to be so cruel as to let someone think they were the only one of their kind. And obviously he knew of both packs. Maybe he had his reasons, but they weren't clear to me. Whatever they were, they had better be good because something told me there would be hell to pay when Leah found out he'd known.

"But it's true. It's so incredibly fucked up. _I'm_ fucked up. A freak. I spend my days surrounded by hormonal teenage boys, who have all seen me naked by this point, which is oh so totally awesome, and I'll probably never be able to have kids and I'll never have a normal life. There has to be something wrong with me for this to have happened." The tinge of self-hate in her voice made me cringe.

With a soft squeak, the back door opened and light flooded into the yard from the kitchen. "Logan?" Sophia called out. "Luke and your dad need to talk to you. And I need to have a few words with Leah."

I looked between the two women. Obviously my family had been listening in and I knew what my aunt meant to do. "Are you sure?" I asked.

She nodded. "I'll take things from here."

"You know she won't be able to keep it from the others." Not with that pain in the ass hive-mind thing they had going.

"Keep what from the others?" Leah demanded, surreptitiously wiping at her eyes.

"I think it's worth it. And therefore your uncle will just have to deal with the consequences. Now; in the house with you. We girls need to have a little chat."

Leah was going to punch me in the face again. I knew it.


End file.
